Going back the way you came...

I went blackberrying recently, the day I made a big decision. I worked my way down the lane to the river, spotting and picking the berries as I went. Some were big and juicy and I tried to work out why others were so much smaller. I never did come to a sensible conclusion. I'd had it in my mind that there would be lots of berries across the river, past the old watermill and up the lane to the adjoining village. As I walked up the lane I was disappointed to see there were no brambles in the hedge at all. I retraced my tracks and to my surprise I spotted lots more blackberries, that I had missed first time round.

The fact that I saw more berries on the way back, set me off thinking about hindsight. It is always acknowledged that hindsight is always 20:20, absolutely perfect. We can always spot what was wrong, what went wrong, and why things went wrong. Conversely, hindsight can also reflect that we were entirely right to do what we did.  On my blackberrying day, I looked back in my life as well as retracing my physical steps. I realised that although I have not always picked the best, or always the right way to do things, I am very glad I did those things because I'm in a good place. This may amaze some, who look at the last few months of my life, saying that I have had a hard time. I have had a hard time, but I have come through it. That is a blessing. Mr G and I have weathered a long stormy spell, but now we are back in the sunshine again.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon with my son, his wife and my little granddaughter. We had a glorious time. R, my granddaughter is just two, and sucking up learning every waking moment. We had an hilarious lunch time. She loves tomatoes, but prefers the juicy seedy bit to the flesh. I had one piece of still juicy tomato on my plate, whereas she had sucked the seeds out of most of her share. With a lightening move, she removed the juicy piece from my plate and replaced it with one of her sucked clean pieces. It was probably good that I spotted it, or I may have eaten her piece! We all laughed, she will eventually learn not to do that, but in her little mind, my tomato was so much better. This observancy continued all afternoon. She spotted a helicopter ('topter), a kite being flown nearby, the slides, the swings, the roundabout, her very pregnant mother's chocolate, Mummy's juice and Grandad's ability to play ball with her and to play exciting games at the tea table. She jumped, she ran, she slid, she climbed. As I watched her, drawing every bit of fun to be had into her life, I reaffirmed the vow Mr G and I have made. We are going to live our lives to the full. We aren't ever going to mark time and miss chances to do things. Like R, we are going to get ALL we can out of life.

          Dance as if nobody is watching,
          Sing as if nobody is listening,
        Live every day as if it were your last.