Maybe you don't think of summer as something you can fail at, but a person can absolutely fail at a season by not taking advantage of it (for instance, ahem, a winter without skiing. Sigh.). If one's summer is distinguishable from winter only by the number of layers one wears: fail. And I have been determined not to fail this summer. I go hiking almost every day I have off and spend hours and hours basking in the sun (while wearing a hat and spf 30 of course). I've gone swimming in the river (quickly, it was very cold), and, most importantly, I've searched, high and low, for huckleberries.
Huckleberries had become my nemeisis this summer. The thing standing between me and a successful season. I could rationalize away not going rafting (too expensive), and not swimming in the lake (too cold) but not finding huckleberries? That was failure I could not live with. Yesterday I even climbed over a gate, prominently posted "NO TRESPASSING" and with three locks reinforcing the sign's intent, to look for a patch that my mom remembered as a gold mine 20+ years ago. A patch where we'd seen a black bear sharing our harvest. I didn't find it. I called my mom and she told me told me all I had to do to find them was drive over to West Mountain, slow down, open the windows, and stop when I smelled their unforgettable tart sweetness filling the air. So, I did. (But first I went home and baked a loaf of bread and made black cherry jam from a recipe in my Grandma Ann's ancient Boston Cooking School Cookbook. Another thing to tick off my checklist for summer. I made jam!) I crossed the valley, pointed my car up the mountain, followed a terrifying one-lane twisty dirt road with no guard rails, slowly, and stopped when I found a wide spot to park near the top of the mountain. I sniffed. Nothing. I was about to get back in the car to drive a little further, when I spotted it. A small bush about three feet away. Covered in those small purple berries that look so much like blueberries and taste so much better. I spent the next hour moving from bush to bush, slapping mosquitoes and eating about twice as many as I kept. I ended up with just a cup of berries. I may try and go back next week and see if any more have ripened, but for now. Summer: you did NOT beat me.
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2 comments:
Well done- it does sound like you have done a splendid job this summer! (I know exactly what you mean about failing at a season.)
And now I want to try huckleberries- where can one get them in east coast metropolitan areas?
Hmmm. I think you might just have to visit me next summer to try them! I'm pretty sure you're out of luck in the city. They've been trying for years to domesticate them, but no success yet.
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