I remember vividly one of the times I got into "big trouble" as a child. Mom had made some sliced strawberries in syrup and had them in the refrigerator. They were delicious! They were so delicious, that even though I knew we weren't supposed to have food in our bedrooms, I snuck them out of the fridge and into my room to help myself to a little snack. I walked over near the window and gave the little container a shake to be sure they were good and mixed up before I dove in. Apparently, the lid wasn't on well and I shook syrupy strawberries all over my white-floral-patterned curtains. Mom was, shall we say, unhappy.

Apparently I learned nothing major from the incident, though. Here I am, nearly, umm, lots of year later, and I'm still eating strawberries in secret.

Last week's Bald Knob berries are now a thing of the past, and the kids know that our backyard berries are "just about ready." What they don't know is that if you lift up the leaves and look deep inside, some berries are already ripe.

Please don't fault me for keeping it a secret. My kids are just as bad as the birds -- once they discover those ripe berries, I can't keep them away. The berries rarely even make it in the house -- the kids just help themself to a snack whenever they're outside playing. I don't really mind; I'm glad they're eating something so good for them.

Soon enough, there'll be berries a plenty, but for now, I'm kind of enjoying my little secret snack. :)