Oh, for the kindness of neighbors.

Thankful today for our friend Dan who welcomes us (and so many others) year after year to pick raspberries on his farm just up the valley.

We pay only with jars of jam or pickles, with conversations across the berry bushes, and with our heartfelt, repeated thanks.

We carry home pails that are loaded with berries, enough to can and freeze and dry, then tuck away for winter.

Such kindness inspires me to become a better person. More generous. Giving. And kind. What would the world be like if we thought first to give all that we could give, not of what we could gain?

Hearts wide open.

Thankful indeed.