Red Berries

I love the way red berries look at this time of the year. The red contrasting with a green stem. Leaves are all fallen and so much is brown and sombre, but the berries are a burst of celebration. 

The state of the berries in the picture above makes me smile. Some have all the goodness used up. They are ready, or nearly ready to fall. Others are still fresh and plump and full of life's goodness. Come February all these berries will be kind of flat looking. Not so attractive to me, but absolutely irresistible to the small birds that hang around outside my window. They will eat them and fly straight into the living room window. When we first moved here, we thought we'd find a row of dead birds on the side of the building come spring. On closer observation we found that the same birds do this over and over. 

The picture reminds me to do some important things:
1.  Use things up while I have the chance.
2. Stock pile beauty for harsher times.
3. Beauty comes with both joy for the eyes as well as thorns that pierce.
4. I am reminded to smile more.
5. I am reminded to simply and make space.