Wind, sun, and huckleberries

I spent the weekend camping in the mountains of southern Washington with my family. It was great to just be a family without the distractions of daily life. The weather was just right, not too cold or hot and it didn't rain.

There was one perfect moment when the sun filtered through the firs; the wind stirred the grasses and huckleberry bushes. My son, who's three, was picking berries ("buckleberries") while the wind made his hair dance lightly. He was tromping through the underbrush picking the occasional berry and carrying on a constant monologue about the various animals he was hunting; elk, bears, lions, etc.

I sat nearby picking my share of berries and enjoyed the sound of his imagination; the light, the wind, the purple-black color of the berries, and the moment of peace in a too-busy life.