I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. And to be honest, I don’t have a problem with that. In fact, I doubt if I will ever settle on one thing because I love so many things and each season highlights a different interest or hobby. In the summer, my love for cooking is re-ignited. With fresh fruit and veg at my fingertips and the grill calling out, the possibilities are endless. I am at home in the kitchen (moreso in my old kitchen since I am pretty sure that the person that designed my present kitchen didn’t cook). It’s all about creating a thing of beauty from God’s bountiful creation. Food is for our pleasure, our enjoyment and I truly believe it is just one of God’s unique and beautiful gifts to us. You can tell a lot of thought went into the food we’ve been given. He didn’t just give us apples but plums and peaches and berries and pomegranates and kiwis. He didn’t just give us carrots, he also gave us beets, and swedes and celeriac. And since food is one of my love language, it reminds me that God has not forgotten about me.
This summer has been filled with all of the things that I love about summer (which mostly have to do with food) but haven’t been able to do since we last lived in BC, which was over 4 years ago. The great part, is now we have children to share these experiences with. Like picking strawberries at Emma Lea Farms.
That being said, I have found it takes exceptionally longer than it used to when it was simply “one for me, one for the bucket.” Now it is “one for me, two for Ella, one for the bucket.”
Oh well, I guess that is why you can buy the ready picked ones. Those strawberries were quickly turned into jam.
There is no lack of food to forage in BC in the summertime. Today, we also went blackberry picking, my dad brought me blueberries the other day along with some peaches from the Okanagan (the hot, deserty part of BC just to the west of the mountains and East of the Fraser Valley) and now my freezer is ready for winter.
The other thing we were able to do this summer that we haven’t been able to do in a couple of years is hike Lake Louise. A couple of weeks ago, we headed to Alberta to visit Ben’s family. His parents held an annual Cousin’s Camp, in which they take all 12 of their grandchildren for 48 hours. Every minute is planned out with games, slurpees, and crafts and they even perform some songs for the parents at the end of the weekend. Jakob has been looking forward to it since…well, basically all year.
After Grammy and Grandpa had recovered, we took a day trip with them, Ben’s older brother and his family to Lake Louise which is about a half hour west of Banff. At the base of the Lake is the beautiful Fairmont hotel. From there, you can walk around the lake and continue up the 5.6 km to the tea house at base of the glacier. It’s a good hike and beautiful one as well. I was so proud of all the kids for making it the whole way, since the last time we went, very few of them made it much further than just around the lake.
It’s been a busy summer to say the least. Good, but busy. As we head into August we have fewer travel plans which I am glad for. It gives me to time to think, I don’t know if I will come to any conclusions as I rarely do, but there is always much to think about. We have had a hard year. Maybe one day I will tell you more about it. But until then I am trying to hold optimism about the year to come. Christmas is just 4 and half months away…
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