Blueberry season is far too brief.

As the Bard of Avon once penned, S

ummer's lease hath all too short a date

.



So if you must skip to the recipe- do so now-- who am I to hold you back, to deny you even one more minute of partaking in this modest indulgence?





But I confess, I am in a waxing mood today. And feeling lost in my meanderings (aka Covid19 isolation month #5). Painfully, deeply aware of the World outside and Her massive, collective changes and pain.





Listening.

Learning.

Supporting.

Donating.

Wearing a mask in a daily walk around the neighborhood.

Practicing civic duty by socially distancing- even from my family.





Why?





Both of us are in a high risk category, knowing the risks for exposure are not in our favor.

Both of us would not ever want to be the source of another family's suffering and pain, passing on- knowingly or unknowingly- the novel Coronavirus among us.





I believe in the here and now (more than the promise of ever-after). Not that ever-after doesn't hold enduring, magnetic charms. The swath we name Eternity is threaded through and through with everyday blinks as brief as a silk worm's life.





Which, as it turns out, is perilously close to a single, fleeting summer. Even one spent indoors, isolated from friends and family.



In my view, if I am honest with myself and paying attention, Eternity can be found inside a simple act. Refilling the bird feeder. Remembering a child's hand clasp. Laughing into a tea cup.





All that I long for, wish for, dream of, has already happened, and will return, this I know.



In some far off starlit part of me that remains forever untouchable and true, Eternity is happening now, and breathes within the tiny beating bud of even my fears and pain. It knows no boundaries, or Gregorian demarcation. It is patient. And full of music. If we listen.



I see it flicker in a favorite photograph of my sons' eyes.



This gift of time.



And the moment I spot it, it is already gone, light years away, clean and immaculate.





Be safe. Be well.





Now go bake some blueberry crumble.



