Spring is a busy time, there are projects, sports, recitals, field days and more.  But recently I had about four hours to spend with my youngest son.  Everyone else in the family had to be somewhere.  The two of us had a few precious hours of unscheduled time.

     I wanted to make it special, so I recalled some of my happiest childhood memories.  One of them was going to a field and picking strawberries with my family.  We are big strawberry lovers from way back.  While enjoying the memory I could almost taste those farm fresh sweet strawberries.  They are so juicy and tastier than anything else I can recall. 

    With all that in mind I told my little guy we were going strawberry pickin!   I also announced if we had time we might throw in climbing a mountain or two!  He laughed.  We were so excited, you'd think we had two round-trip tickets to Paris.   No it was just knowing we just had some special time together.

     The day was sunny and warm.  In fact it was such a pretty day the drive to the strawberry field was so gorgeous.  I'd imagined Heaven must look something like this.  The grass was so green along the highway and it was heavily dotted with wildflowers of all colors,  yellow, purple, white and bright pink.  We found his favorite song on the radio and we drove and drove and drove, sure that we were going to get the sweetest strawberries in the land. 

    While we were riding and chatting, he said... "I love you mom."

   Ok, the day was complete for me after that.  But we pressed on to find the perfect strawberry.   We drove to Clanton.  I'd remembered a strawberry field where we had gotten the sweetest strawberries in the land several years ago.    But as I drove past it, I saw that someone had sold the farm.  No strawberries here.  But my sister can always save the day with her computer expertise.  I called and she found a great strawberrie u-pick in Clanton.  I followed the direction and because of our anticipation, it seemed that we drove forever.  But finally on the country road we found the place!

    But I got that sinking feeling, after noticing there wasn't much action there.   I called the number on the billboard, and found out the strawberries had already been picked that Friday.  The field wouldn't open until Monday.  So on this weekend, strawberry pickin was out.

   I looked at my little guy and said, I'm so sorry.  But I've enjoyed hanging out with you.  In a grown up voice, he said I had fun with you too!  I remembered going on Sunday drives with my Dad and Mom... usually it wasn't about the destination, it was about the drive and taking in God's  work. We enjoyed looking at the countryside and would resort to singing silly songs.  That was a great memory.  It was about the journey and not the destination.

   We stopped at a roadside stand, found some already picked strawberries and  ice cream.  We enjoyed the trip back too!  But just to make sure this day was extra special I stopped at Oak Mountain State Park seeking yet another memory for the two of us.  I thought we could rent a canoe.

  But  you probably already guessed it... by the time we got there the canoe rental had just closed for the day.   We shrugged our shoulders and laughed.   We walked along the beach and up a trail.  We passed the owls and the vultures and ended up at the top of a ridge where the Wildlife Center was located.  Again the fun was in the journey to the top. We walked under the shade of the trees and imagined the animals that lived in the woods. We appreciated the rocks, and roots on the path.  We talked and laughed.

     Thank you Lord for a day where the journey turned out to be the destination we'd hoped for... a great day of fun and laughter and sweet time to spend together!

God Bless!