March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 23
Written from a freewrite in my 2015 Journal

The sun rose around 7 AM. When I looked out my dining room windows, I could see the shape of the magnolia buds, shadows against the dimly lit sky, a sign that spring is coming soon. The sun set at 5:48 PM so that by 6:00 that evening there was just a hint of light lingering in the sky. It had been a busy day, one filled equally with business and family. And our backyards had overflowed most of the afternoon with a dozen of our grandkids, two years old to fourteen.

In the afternoon, I pulled some of last summer’s sunshine out of the freezer; I’d stored it in a bag of blueberries.

With the help of BN (my 6 yo grandson), I rolled out pie crust for two scrumptious pies. Such a helper–getting out butter, unwrapping it, and giving it a zap in the microwave to soften it a bit. On the first stick of butter we had set it for 7 seconds, then 3 more, than another 3, until in BN’s words, it “isn’t cold and feels like cheese.” When we put the second stick in, BN was doing mental math out loud and told me we needed to just “put it in for 13.” Such a smart first grader! With the pies about to go into the oven, BN headed back outside to play with siblings and cousins.

JK (wife of my youngest son, SV) and I got a big pot of hamburger stew simmering — carrots, Yukon potatoes, green beans, diced tomatoes, and of course, hamburger we had seasoned and browned. JK and I are good at that special dance that two people do to share a kitchen while cooking, setting the table, and unloading a dishwasher.

When the pies came out of the oven, we popped in the mini cinnamon rolls that we had made out of the leftover scraps of pie dough. This time we called them “BN’s cookies.”

After everyone –SV and his family and my husband and I– had eaten our fill of hamburger stew and hot garlic bread, we sliced the warm blueberry pie and topped it with vanilla ice cream. It was too good to describe.

We spread the word and the pie drew others to our kitchen. MK (my oldest son) and KT (his wife) walked over for slices. BN came to get his special cookies. And HN and SF (close family friends) stopped in for bowls of stew and pieces of pie as they walked through our back yards from CHR’s (my daughter) home to their parked car (it was in front of our house). As the clock inched on toward 8:00 PM, I cut more slices of pie to take over to CHR and TM’s (my daughter’s husband).

It was my walk from CHR’s house, back across our yards, that I wish I could find words to fully capture. The gravel on the walkway crunched under my feet. I shivered a bit in the coolness of the warm winter night. I made the circle of light from my flashlight dance between the dark green leaves of tall laurel hedges and wondered if I might see a raccoon or two. Overhead in the dark sky, a sliver of moon gave me a wide brilliant smile. As I climbed the lava stone steps and swung open the gate that separates our backyards, I looked back at warm lights of CHR and TM’s place. To the east gleamed the warm lights of our guest apartment where SV & JK were staying. To the west MK and KT’s three-story home loomed up with warm lights beaming from all three stories. Straight ahead my kitchen lights glowed like a warm hub with rays reaching out, connecting us in the night.

I stood very still for a few moments, letting the sight of all the lights fill up my memory and my heart with the warmth of love and thanksgiving. Then I walked on the narrow sidewalk that crosses my back yard, swung open the second gate–between my yard and driveway, stepped up onto my back porch, and into my toasty kitchen where the aroma of garlic, oregano, tomatoes, and blueberry pie still lingered.

And tomorrow morning for breakfast, I’m having a slice of blueberry pie with my coffee!

Blessed indeed, I am!
Truly blessed!
So grateful, for God has made me rich!

Blueberry Photo Gallery

Slice of blueberry pie
with a scoop of Tillamook vanilla ice cream

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for hosting  Slice of Life Tuesday Challenge

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