Whiteley Creek Homestead

Sometimes people, ever so effortlessly, make one's life happier by little gestures that come about because they paid attention to… made a mental note of… the most minute detail that could be so easily missed. For example, I ever so briefly mentioned "sunny fruit slices" in a September 14, 2009 post regarding a stop at St. Cloud. Minnesota's Good Earth Food Co-op. Here's the sentence from that post: "Today I brought home pluots (plum and apricot cross), a heavenly fragrant herbal orange spice tea, organic "sunny fruit slices" (like candy orange slices except they come in many different fruity flavors and are mini bite-size pieces) that are always so fresh, 4 lbs of buffalo meat which I can get at our Brainerd Farmers Market but only one day a month and sometimes I'm not able to make it in that day, a little chunk of nitrite-free hormone-free antibiotic-free ham to slice and brown a little for breakfast alongside deep-orange yolked eggs that only come from free range hens that can eat bugs, worms, seeds, and other naturally occurring outdoor things… I can't wait for breakfast, and 6 ears of organically-grown sweet corn." This is one very long sentence and yet there it is, buried deep within the heart of the sentence… sunny fruit slices. In the post, I didn't elaborate on how much I love the glittery coating on their exterior that looks so very much like snowflakes. I didn't describe the soft gelled interior with its authentic fruity flavor. I didn't go on about the lovely cheerful colors. Yet, what did a bed and breakfast guest and her sweet 7 year-old daughter present to me as a gift this past weekend when they came to stay? Yes, a little bag of these treats from the St. Cloud Good Earth Food Co-op. Thank you, Jackie and Maeve, for noticing the little things and realizing that the greatest joy comes from the simplicities of life. Happy 32nd birthday today, Lisa! Love, Your Momma