Drinking my first cup of coffee with my eyes still sleepy I googled blackberry.   “Grandma Camp” had been to Huber Farms to pick blackberries and I was expecting two happy campers within the hour ready to tackle jam, pie, and cobblers!  My computer screen responded with a thousand hits on different phones!  When did this fresh delicious fruit loose its name to a phone??   I’ve picked blackberries since I was old enough to walk and hold my own pail.  They stain your hands purple, but oh the cobblers during that season make your mouth water just thinking about them.  The ones we picked were in empty fields growing wild….a sweet delight hidden among overgrown grasses, weeds, and under the trees.  I believe God enjoyed watching us find the blackberries He had hidden there just as parents would watch their kids look for hidden eggs at Easter!  When I hear the word blackberry I will stay true and crave the taste of a fresh picked one before I think of a phone!

Planet Carol loves the experience of life.  I gave in to the cell phone and now am proudly an addict as I love sharing the moments of life as they happen with family or being readily available to encourage a friend.  At the same time I am working on sensitivity to the moment.  When everyone in the car is on the phone we miss developing relationships.  The elderly can’t get a word in and often feel left out.  Yesterday I got lost.  This is not a new thing and having a phone is helpful.  Even so I diffused the worry of my precious passengers by referring to the moment as our adventure ride!  We ended up taking pictures of cornfields.  My granddaughter was mesmerized by a field of wild flowers and saw a purple one she had never seen before.  I pulled over and her brother jumped out and picked her some.  We discovered a well.  Older homes with lots of character were described as doll houses and huge modern homes Barbie houses!  I was sad to have to get directions to the interstate before I ran out of gas knowing the adventure would end.  Technology has taken over and moving so fast I know that I will never keep up.  However I am a living being surrounded by gifts of creation.  I never want to wake up one day and find my best friend is a machine that has never tasted a blackberry!