a different path

***

so we left the house

all excited about going berry picking this weekend..

ready to take a million photos

and pick a billion berries

with visions of making tarts and pies

and filling our mouths with piles of them

fresh from the bushes

...strawberries, huckleberries, blackberries and raspberries..

just like i did when i was a kid

(i still remember the very first blackberry i ate right from the vine)

***

only to find that the farm

was already sold out of all of its berries

for the season

(what? how can this be..so early in the season?

well..then again, we're talking about organic berries..

which are sadly, very hard to come by around here)

***

darn. i was so super disappointed

..mad at myself really..

for having put off our little berry adventure again and again

(we'd been talking about picking them ourselves for months and months..)

***

then i remembered something i had read that morning..

a little thought of the day

(yogi teas come with small phrases, words of wisdom

printed on their tea tags..)

which most of the time

really do make me atleast think for a moment

during the day

this one said

'empty yourself and let the universe fill you'

(something more poetic, but along those lines)

and suddenly

i realized just exactly what this meant

and just exactly how it could help the situation

(yogi tea..you are my personal guru..yes you are!)

***

so i threw away my expectations

(mainly my disappointment)

and

we just set out exploring the countryside

with no plans at all

to see what we could find

***

..we discovered all sorts of great things..

a sweet little nature preserve

sortof hidden and tucked away

with a beautiful pond

***

and

all sorts of overgrown paths

(not scary overgrown..)

just sweet and smelling of chamomile

and begging to be explored

***

and

we played like kids

***

and snapped a million photos

***

and found strange little spaces

that sparked a billion creative ideas

***

and

realized we had found a really great spot

to come back to again and again

for more exploring

and for portraits

(i'm dreaming of doing some self-portraits and also using models..)

so

no berries this weekend

(but believe me..i'm thinking of driving out to the catskills..i hear there are still plenty there)

and funny enough

i can whole-heartedly say that it was one of the best i've had

in a very very long time.

hope you had a great weekend too..

happy monday to you!

xo