Heat Reprieve

The heat wave finally broke yesterday, in a spectacular thunder and lightening show that blew out the power for more than nine hours (to the entire town where my parent's live). We had our morning coffee on the front porch, enjoying the cool breeze, blooming flowers, butterflies and steady rain.

After being stuck in indoor air conditioning for a few days, my dad was particularly happy to be allowed outside! He continues to do very well, and make slow but steady improvements. This morning, while sorting Saskatoon berries, he was a little off balance and it was a good reminder that while he feels better, he's still not as steady or as strong as he might expect, or like to be. Thankfully, he's not ignoring his limitations, even though they must be frustrating.

During this week's heat wave, the raspberries and Saskatoon berries happily ripened... and not so happily, needed to be picked.  So far, my mom has picked and frozen four ice cream buckets of Saskatoon berries (with more scheduled for tomorrow) along with countless trays of local strawberries. Over the next few days, I think there will be more raspberries to pick (and devour) as well. After a morning of rain yesterday, my parent's garden is a major mud pit, but things should be dried out enough by tomorrow to pick a second round of raspberries. They are so deliciously sweet, it's worth trudging through mud to enjoy them!