Bottled Memories

Last week I stood in my kitchen. I unloaded the dishwasher and randomly placed it's contents on the counter. As I put them away I noticed the light dancing through one of my fruit jars and it's beauty slowed me down. I stopped to watch the light and the shadows, and it made me grateful. The sight of empty Kerr and Mason jars in my sink or on my counter are my favorite. It means that we have emptied another jar of fresh fruit. It means that we will place the empty bottle in the basement where it will patiently wait for summer to arrive when we will gather as a family and bask in the heat of the stove and the light streaming in the window to fill them once again. It means we will turn on the music and laugh as we work. It means we will stay up late waiting for the jars to seal, and when they do they will seal the fruit and our memories together to be enjoyed at a later date. It means that I will see them in my storage room and smile knowing that we worked together, and it means I will savor the goodness of the contents that much more because each time I open them I remember our assembly line and our efficiency in storing the fruit. It means we will work together once more this year to bottle up some more memories. I got all of that out of this one lonely jar as I watched the light dance around and through it. It's just as beautiful when it's empty as it is when it's full.