Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Blueberries

      There is an abandoned field a few miles from our home that has sat for twenty years or more without attention. It is up high with views that go for miles. Friends of ours live across the valley and we can see there home. The place is spectacular.
      Blueberries grow wild in this field, the lowbush variety. Weeds compete for space and trees are slowly creeping in from the forest edges. The blueberries established patches in the grass, but trees are trying to poke up through. Someday the trees will win and the land will return to forest.
      For years we have picked blueberries in this field. Blueberries grow on our own property, but somehow it is more fun to pick were the view goes on forever and bears and birds compete for the fruit. On one side a manmade pond is tucked against the woods. It has a footprint about the size of a small home and the dogs love to swim in it when the weather is warm.
      Today they barely swam at all. The temperature struggled to hit seventy and clouds hid what would have been a hot sun. A gusty west wind kept the deer flies and mosquitoes at bay. It turned out to be a perfect day for picking blueberries.
      Two grouse flew into the woods while we picked. Obviously, their nerves couldn’t take the dogs and humans in their blueberry patch. Mollie, our younger dog, stopped to point in one of the patches, but no bird was found. It had to be residual bird scent from before the bird walked off.
     

The blueberries are pretty popular.