If you keep your eyes open, life can be a wonderful mix of the expected and the unexpected. But you have to put your mobile phones away (maybe lock them up for a day or two) and actually look at things as you walk about outdoors. In late summer in the Skagit valley you expect to be able to pick blackberries by the handful. You not only expect it, you look forward to it.

What you don’t expect to see in August are wisteria blossoms. Wisteria bloom profusely in spring. And yet, the other day I happened to see a few blossoms on one of the wisteria vines. What a pleasant surprise. Maybe someday the blackberries will surprise me and have a handful of ripe berries in May.