Blueberries for Sal, Mom, Dad, Sister and Everyone

Summer in Ohio means berry picking.  Raspberries, black raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, it doesn't matter what kind of berry it is, we are equal opportunity berry pickers!  They are all delicious and not much can equal the fun of trompeling through berry fields on a hot summer afternoon.  

We drove to a blueberry farm, appropriately called "The Blueberry Patch" - so cute! - with our goals in mind.  It's important to have goals, you know.  They give you a purpose.  They keep you focused.  The goals were varied.  For Jessica, to pick enough to fill her buckets full and enjoy nature and the sounds of birds and bugs.  For me?  I'm a little more aimless when it comes to berry picking.  I was just happy to be outside and decided to sample as many berries as possible.  I felt like a brown bear, happily grasping at as many berries as I could possibly reach.

The blueberries make a great ping ping noise when they are dropped in the bottom of an empty bucket.  As the bucket fills the sound gets muffled by the other berries.  Our ears were always sharpened to determine whether someone was already onto their next bucket, meaning they had picked faster than you.  That, of course, would be no good.  The two buckets each get filled and we decide to get more buckets because it's such a gorgeous and lovely day.  The blueberries are plentiful.  They are sweet and tangy.  The bushes are tall and the bees and beetles are few and far between.  The ripe blueberries are nestled between leaves and branches, next to little pink ones that have yet to ripen.  They are just beautiful.

Ping ping the new buckets get started.  Chapel bells nearby kept the time for us.  Finally we decide it's closing time.  We realize we're at the far end of the field, in quite a valley far from the road.  And we realize we have 11 buckets of blueberries.  11!!!  And they are heavy!  And difficult to carry!  And we are far away!  We strap up the buckets and start back.  Up the hill.  Through the bushes.  Trying to keep the little berries safe in their buckets.  A bucket breaks, spilling its treasure onto the dirt road.  We scramble to scoop them up.  We finally get all the berries, safe and sound into the car.  The trunk is totally filled with thousands of tiny little blueberries.  Enough to last forever.  

Guess what I had for dinner?  BLUEBERRIES!  And for breakfast today?  BLUEBERRIES!

My tongue is purple and my tummy is happy.  Happy summer to all.