Ripe with Joy

My husband calls me to the garden. "The first blueberry is blue!" he reports.

"Already?"

We find that first ripe blueberry, and it makes us so happy.

First Ripe Blueberry

Who gets to eat it? The one who will have the most joy in it.

Normally, the youngest in the family gets to pick the first ripe anything: cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, and especially berries. We set the littlest one out in the wet new morning, rain boots protecting her against the dew, and she picks the berry. She holds it up as a grand trophy and then eats it as the family watches on.

She gets the most joy out of it.  So we let her go first, and then we get the most joy.

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Gardening brings wonder into our lives. Do you still experience wonder over ripe things?