I'd been craving a blackberry pie so got up early to pick berries. I really am blessed to live in an area where we can have these wonderful berries growing wild. I have the best memories of picking blackberries in the woods with my grandma & mom, then being able to help in the kitchen with cooking the pie. dark stains all over our hands and aprons..thick crust soaked in juices. Other than peach cobbler, there's not a pie that can compare to a great blackberry pie in my eyes. I haven't had one in years and was determined not to let the season pass by this year without having one. I was struck by the parallel to life in picking these berries... to get the biggest and best berries, you have to take the risk of getting a little hurt, scratched or bruised. In my case today, the hurt was a red wasp sting on the thumb - tip: soak in Espsom salt to draw out the poison from insect bites & stings. But the payoff will be a delicious blackberry pie and lots of great memories. Sometimes in life you have to take a risk to have the life that you dream of. I also allowed myself to play a bit and dream bigger - my dream in life is to have a healing center, a safe place surrounded by nature, where people of all kinds are able to come together to grow and heal, to spread their light into the world and make it a better place. I'd love to have lots of garden space as well as fruit & berries. I envision plums, peaches, apples, blueberries, blackberries, dewberries, melons. I've always had veggie & herb gardens but haven't been that great with the fruit.. hopefully that can change.
I've come up against some resistance to putting myself out there in a blog again as I've been burned in the past with doing similar things. But I'm pushing through this and doing it anyway as I think in the end, the benefit will be great and it will be worth the risk. It will be a process...
