The gifts of slowing down

It's my first morning at the lake. Everyone is asleep except me (because I am still running on Quebec time). I want to go pick raspberries but what if someone wakes up and is looking for me?

Did I spell raspberries wrong? Yes. But who cares? I always say the letter S brings good luck so add as many as you want to.  Also... dyslexia.

So I leave a note on the kitchen island in front of the bouquet of Daisies Axel picked for me yesterday.

I walk out the front door and glance at the bee balm to see if I can spot any bees.  It is too early.  It is still cool.  They must all be sleeping... like everyone else in the house.

As I start walking up the gentle hill to the raspberries, I spot Anita's fairy garden... and the fairly house I made 2 summers ago.  I have not seen it yet (I had to leave before it was fired) so I excitedly divert toward it.

Hello fairy house!  I didn't take off the roof to look inside, but I know that the floor has the inscription: All Fairies Welcome.

Side quest complete, I turn back to the raspberries. I start at the end of the row where the bushes are the smallest.  

As I begin to pick, my fingers remember that if you have to squeeze of pull too hard for the berries to come off, they aren't ready yet.  Even if they look red and delicious. But what if these are the last berries I ever get?  I calm my anxiety by reminding myself that they will be there tomorrow, and maybe they will be ready then. And even if I don't get to eat them, someone else might, and even if no one does (human, bird or other -- I have been told there is a bear on the property), that is OK. It will go back to the earth.

So many delicious berries.

Can you spot how many berries were ready and have now been picked?

As I continue picking I notice that some berries that seem extra ripe do not fall off.  When I pick harder and they come off I can see they are overripe and mouldy on one side. I have never noticed this before.  I'll file that little bit of knowledge away in my brain -- when one of these pops off, a little squishy in your fingers, don't pop it right in your mouth.

But now I look at my hands and I'm bleeding. Stupid thorns. I wipe my hand on my jeans.  But a little blood won't stop my from picking.

Did I trick you?  Just raspberry juice.

As I continue my harvesting, I come across a branch that has no berries at all. I realize it is because it is not a raspberry bush.  There is a little tree growing out of the patch.  I remember that I have not yet thanked the raspberry patch for the gift of it's berries. I also remember that when you harvest from a plant, you should take care of it... don't take too much, maybe clear away encroach plants so that it can continue to grow and thrive. I make a mental note to come back and remove that seedling later.

I continue to pick and move my way up the row, and suddenly the sun hits me in the eye. I look up and it is nestled between two trees. What a view.

I'm noticing I can't reach all the berries on the far side of the bushes and know I can just continue picking down the other side when I get to the top.  At the top end of the row, a beautiful boulder with gorgeous moss.  I decide to leave a berry in case a bird lands there to rest.

And on the other side of the rock, a bush. I can tell from the dried up flower buds that it is a lilac.  And suddenly I recognize the leaves of the sapling I had come across earlier.  A baby lilac. Can you see that the leaves are the same?

And suddenly I let go of a worry in the back of my mind that I didn't really realize was there. When I decided 10 minutes ago that I wouldt back and remove the sapling so the raspberry bush could thrive, I was also wondering maybe I shouldn't?  If it grew there, maybe it is supposed to be there. Who am I to pull it out?  But now, I feel a little better about it.  There is another lilac bush nearby, and it will continue to grow there.

And now, to make my way down the other side of the raspberry patch. But then I think about the fact that maybe I don't need all the ripe berries on the bush.  Maybe someone walking down the road will want to pick a few berries for their journey as they pass by. We can eat the ones I have already picked.  If we need more, I can go pick more.  I don't need to strip the whole patch. But I decide I will still walk down the far side of the row, on the road side and just admire how beautiful they are.

As I walk, suddenly I notice the sound of the stream to my left across the road. I haven't gone into the forest to see the stream at this spot for over a decade.  I decide to go check it out. First I've got to get through the ditch of boxwood bushes.

I can tell that tree ahead it as the stream.

Getting closer. Stepping through the underbrush, trying to make sure I don't trip, still carrying my container of raspberries (why didn't I leave it at the road?).

Oh sh*t. I just lost my shoe.

Just stuck under a branch, no mud, all good.  It's back on my foot now, but now I see a cool flower.  Take pictures so I can look it up later.

I made it to the stream, berries in hand!

Watch this to see the stream and hear its sounds.  You'll get to see skunk cabbage too.

Nobody has come to find me so time to head back home. But I decide to make another side quest to leave some offerings for the forest Fairies. On my way there I pick a daisy and find a feather!!! 

I also notice this beautiful white rock in the retaining wall. It's been there long enough to that some moss has made it's home in one of the cracks. I decide if I find a nice big rock down at the beach this summer, I might bring it up and add it to the wall.

Back at home I decide it is time to blog my morning adventure.  But what if no one knows to find me on the deck? 

Can you guess who was the first person to find me?

Axel wins the prize.  Can you guess what it is?