Today is July 15... time to enjoy a taste of summer in Murphy, North Carolina while my glass is still half full.  Last night I slipped out on the porch off our bedroom to sit on the rocker and gaze at the mountains in the moonlight.  A cool breeze enticed me to turn off the air conditioning and open the doors and windows.  Nature's soft sounds played a soothing lullaby for my restless soul.

The other day we made a summer memory - my youngest daughter and I.  She's thirteen, born in the age of Ipods and cellphones, forever connected to technololgy by invisible wireless chains.  But for a precious few hours, we went back to the days of little house on the prairie.  With empty gallon jugs in hand and the dogs tagging along, we headed down our mountain lane to pick  blackberries.                                                        

This year's crop is especially bountiful and even the hungry wild turkeys that run up and down our lane can't eat all of them before we get our share.  We spent an hour talking and laughing and filling our jugs to the brim.

Later, hot and sweaty with our fingers stained purple, we trudged back to the house to wash and crush the berries and chop the few peaches we managed to harvest ahead of the bugs.  And for dinner that night we had barbecued chicken and hot biscuits with fresh blackberry-peach jam, sweetened with laughter and love.