You never know when a surprise lies around the corner…maybe a spectacular event, or just as easily something quite simple. That’s how I felt when I saw this cute tomato peeking up at me like a little bunny.

Such a trite thing, you might say. But this unique creation caught my eye, and my husband smiled when I asked him to snap it.

A smile can be worth a lot during a busy week with health challenges and a sad funeral. After he took the photo, I thought, “Okay, now we can eat the tomato.” And then, “Oh, why not wait another day?”

That’s the way it goes with beauty. You want it to last.

Of course, you know it won’t . . . it’s August, after all, and this is Iowa. So you gather it all into your heart and hold it close.

Yesterday, one of my readers wrote me a note, another pleasant surprise. After lunch, she took a break from the garden and started to read Kiss Me Once Again, a World War II romance that released last December. She couldn’t stop because the story gripped her right from the start, and finished it by bedtime.

So heartening to this author! Glenora, the main character in this story, believes romance is over for her when her beau dies on the Arizona in 1941. But she has no idea what surprises wait just around the corner. Life is like that . . . sometimes our aspirations fall short of what might be possible.

If you need a short summer read, this novella could be just your cup of tea!