Flexibility

...is buying a toothbrush from Wal-Mart

and curling up on the floor in a borrowed quilt.

My cousin's little girl peeking between the racks of clothes at Goodwill.

My car sounded like a jet engine taking off as I drove the eight miles between a high school in southern Michigan and my Uncle Paul's place. I had a job interview late Friday morning and decided to combine the trip with a visit to relatives. Julie accompanied me and Mom and Dad loaded the trunk of my car with bags of sweet corn and apples before we left. We heard an unusual noise on three-hour drive, and as we neared our destination it became impossible to ignore.

Uncle Paul took a peek beneath the car and agreed that something was wrong. After we "put up" the sweet corn for my cousin Carmen's freezer, Uncle Paul talked to my Dad and brother and then started calling auto parts stores. Later that afternoon Uncle Paul went to town to buy parts for my car, and we girls went to Wal-Mart and Goodwill for contact solution and another set of clothes for Julie.

The best place to experience car trouble, I've decided, is within a few miles of a mechanically minded man, in this case, my uncle.

Aunt Sandy loaned us quilts and pillows Friday evening and Julie and I camped out in the living room. Uncle Paul spent Saturday fixing my car, while we ladies visited and I took family photos of my cousin Carmen and her husband and three little girls. By late afternoon Uncle Paul deemed the vehicle roadworthy and we headed north nearly twenty-four hours later than we planned.

Renew

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psalm 51.10 NIV

Plaid and stripes

Naomi's blackberry picking outfit.

Black and white

It was overcast yesterday morning as I waited for the last customer to fill her bucket. I took advantage of the lull to photograph a few of the wild plants at the blueberry farm. I apologize for turning all the images to black and white but they seemed so rich and intense without the distracting colors.

Pecans

The Fed-Ex guy pulled in the driveway just as we finished lunch on Tuesday. He delivered a birthday treat--a pecan sampler from Koininia Farm in Georgia--for Mom from her brother.

Corn, corn, corn

We spent a long, cold winter without any sweet corn. Usually we fill the freezer with bags of corn and serve it at least once a week. Last year we failed to preserve Dad's favorite vegetable. First the freezer was full of blueberries and then the plants developed a disease.

After months without corn, we were motivated to get the corn from the field to the freezer. Monday afternoon my two youngest siblings put up about fifty pounds of sweet corn. Logan picked and husked the corn, while Naomi steamed, cut and bagged it. I was impressed, since they did most of the work themselves while everyone else was busy with other projects. Despite their dedication to their task, Logan and Naomi didn't object when their siblings helped preserve corn on Tuesday afternoon.

Husking corn can be a social event and one year involved worm eating.

Sunflower

Wolverine

Julie, Betsy and I spend Saturday evening and Sunday closer to the North Pole than the Equator. On our way to Wolverine, Michigan we passed the forty-fifth parallel line that marks the midway between the North Pole and the Equator. It certainly felt like we were closer to ice and snow than the tropics and we pulled out our sweaters.

Our friends asked Julie to share about her trip to Africa with the children at church. They invited us to stay at their log cabin. The seventy-year-old cabin is shaded by trees just steps from a gurgling stream. It was a beautiful, peaceful, relaxing setting and we girls thoroughly enjoyed our escape from the blueberry farm.

Yellow

Cats and dogs

There are times when the photographer needs to become a participant and not just an observer. Sadly, I failed to recognize such a time. The dog's instinct exhibited itself for a second and the kitten was dead.

5 tons

...one bucket at a time.

"Do you get tired of blueberries?" customers often ask.

"Nope," I answer. I never get tired of blueberries. I eat them by the handful every single day of blueberry season.

I enjoy picking blueberries, serving customers and supervising pickers, at least, most days I enjoy it. There are occasionally days when it is a job, like when the toilet overflows. But most days I like being outside and interacting with berry loving folks.

The blueberry farm has been open to the public for a month now. We just started picking Elliotts, our late season variety and expect them to last into September. By that time I will be tired of running the farm and ready to close for the year. But even then I won't be tired of eating blueberries.

Summer

Pocket of kittens

Naomi took four of her kittens to the blueberry farm Saturday evening. They chased each other beneath the bushes while she picked berries. When she was done she scooped them up and deposited them in the pockets of her apron to take up to the barn. Then while Naomi unloaded carriers from the pick-up truck the kittens crawled under the tables for naps.

Guy talk

It's the guys that talk the longest after church. They stand under the carport, suit jackets and Bibles in their arms, and talk while the children chase each other across the parking lot.

I prefer the black and white image but I know some people are partial to color, so I included both versions in this post.

Purple

Eggplant from the farmers' market arranged in a basket purchased by Julie in Malawi, Africa.

Rest

Oat harvest

Brian cleans chaff from the granary in preparation for the oat harvest.

The farmers take a moment to share news while transferring oats from the combine to a gravity wagon.

This one is for my brother, the Case New Holland guy.

Sky

I tried to capture the lightning that streaked across the western sky after the Hymn Sing on Sunday evening. But I didn't have a tripod and my timing wasn't perfect. So I settled for dramatic sky.

The sunset was stunning after a brief shower on Sunday evening.

Stargazer lilies

Grown by Libby.

Onions

Grown by Logan.