Friday, July 25, 2008

7/25/08 FRUITS OF OUR LABORS



Friday, 8:00 AM. 66 degrees, wind SW, just strong enough to make the aspen leaves tremble. The channel is calm. The sky is partly cloudy with some rain clouds in the west, and the barometer predicts rain. It is rather humid.
This is the big annual arts festival weekend, and Bayfield will be busy. Joan and I Are escaping to the Barrens again today with Andy and Judy to pick wild blueberries. The dogs will go along again to ward off the bears, and we will go to the Delta Diner for a 50’s late lunch.
Mike Bonney, who has the great garden on 8th and Manypenny, told some berry picking stories when I mentioned to him this morning we were going. He said he and Sharron hadn’t picked wild berries in years, and warned about the bears in the berry patches. He said he has been picking blackberries when you didn’t see the bears, but they were so close you could actually smell them. Anyway, its off to the boonies where it looks like it will be a hot day.
Later: It was a good day in the berry patch, we picked lots of berries, including some huckleberries, before we go chased to lunch by thunderstorms. I got to the point where I passed up the occasional berry to look for a large plant or a whole patch of ripe berries, where one could make some progress. Malts and more at the Diner were great as usual. They were quite crowded. Ice cream and wild blueberries after dinner topped things off.