Our Daily Pilgrimage

Clara loves being outdoors. I don't know if all young children go through a phase where they would rather spend every waking moment outside, but our little girl is definitely there. She wakes up in the morning, gets, dressed, and heads to the kitchen door. The story is the same after both naps and any other time she happens to be inside. She'll grab the closest hand and head to the door, asking, "aa-AH?" on the way and signing "please" when we get there. A negative response results in heartbroken sobs and floods of tears.

Needless to say, we've been spending a lot of time outdoors. We have lots of favorite activities to choose from, but not a single day has gone by in the past week without this one special trip, often taken multiple times a day. Holding on to the fingers of whoever happens to be with her at the moment, Clara will walk purposefully past the hammock, the camp chairs, and the lawn mower (all favorite places to sit and watch the cars go by), shaking her head in a vehement "no" if stopping is suggested. She heads up the slight incline in the backyard, under the crab apple and maple trees, to the back garden. The last of my green beans are hanging on, the butternut squash are about ready to harvest and, most important on Clara's list, the fall raspberries are ripe and plentiful. We had a decent harvest from last year's canes in the summer, but this year's canes are much more bountiful and a good number of berries ripen every day. Good thing, too!

Once we arrive at the garden, Clara plops down on the ground and starts "pleasing" frantically, interspersed with lots of pointing and exclamations of "ah, AH! Om. Ah. Om." It is my job to pick berries and hand them to her to be gobbled up as fast as I pick. If I'm not going fast enough she'll often crawl to the nearest cane and try to reach some for herself.

I'm so thankful my daughter is learning the delights of fresh fruit, straight from the source. Nothing makes me happier than being able to indulge her voracious appetite for raspberries from my own backyard. (To be honest, she loves bananas too, which will never be local or fresh in New England. But hey, it's all a work in progress.) So as long as the raspberries keep coming, you can bet we'll be making our daily pilgrimage to our own little Mecca of deliciousness.