Now I understand

This a sneak peek from Moonshine, Tobacco, and Strawberry Pie, by Barbara Hill Osgood

Return to Mama's Garden

It was late in the summer but the strawberry plants were still producing. I was surprised to see berries this time of year, there were even a smattering of blossoms promising more to come. I bent down and picked one, tugging a little to get it off the plant. It was red on the top but still yellow where it touched the ground. As I tasted it, it was firm to the bite but with a promise of sweetness. Alongside the ripening berries were the old leaves from springtime, dark rusty red with brown spots, ready to fall to the ground.

The tall summer flowers were barely hanging in there, the bluejay sitting on the full sunflower filling his belly with the seeds warning all who dared walk too close that this was his domain. The brown dying stalks line up against the fence Papa built years ago . I feel closer to Mama here now than I ever did when I was small. She’s still here tending her plants and watching over us.

I don’t think Mama hated the strawberries at all, she just liked them in her small bed of berries eating them quietly as they ripened. She loved the quiet of the garden, sitting and watching the magic. I understand that now.