This past Sunday, with Ian canoeing in the Run of the Charles for the third straight year, it fell to me to figure out food for the week. I stopped by Trader Joe's, planned some dinners as I walked through the aisles, and went to check out.
A clever marketer had strategically placed a pallet of fresh strawberries within arm's reach of the line. I didn't see them at first, but the smell of summer stopped me in my tracks. After teasing us with few days of sundress temperatures in March, New England returned to standard spring weather: cold and wet. We can expect this to last through May, so how could I resist a small dose of what we're missing, packaged in red berry form?
I picked up a carton, thinking of the Smitten Kitchen strawberry summer cake I made last summer and loved. I vaguely remembered blogging about it, so when I got home I looked it up. The sun-drenched photos (see above) are such a contrast to this week's forecast. The focus on Sabbath, it pains me to say, is also a contrast to this season.
We've been so busy: Ian has more on his plate at work juggling projects and deadlines, he's studying for his final LARE exam in June, and we've both been pitching in more at [REUNION] and cramming as much as possible into the little free time that remains. While I've done better about accepting what I can and can't do in the time I have (I'm not freaking out that I haven't cleaned the apartment in a month and am successfully ignoring the hair carpeting our bathroom while I catch up on higher priorities, like paying bills and doing laundry), we've failed miserably as of late on resting and infusing meaning into it. We know we need to slow down, prioritize, and say no to good things, but it isn't easy.
I'm thankful for God's gentle and delicious reminder to refocus. This weekend, I'm sitting down and reading through Luke like I said I would, reconnecting with [REUNION] friends, and enjoying a little slice of summer.