Blueberries

I am not what you could consider a nature freak. Given the choice between sleeping in a tent or in a hotel room I will without exception always choose the hotel room. But certain things make me feel simply wonderful: fall foliage in New England, crickets chirping in the summer, the sight, smell, and feel of ocean turf, and I suppose that's what is meant by experiencing one's interconnectedness with the divine through nature.

Last night I had the chance to try something new - blueberry picking. My neighbor had called just as I was about to go do some yoga and invited me to tag along. Since it was fantastic weather outside, I decided it would be a great thing for me and my son to do. My son, however, decided he would rather hang out with the neighbor's sons, so it ended up only being the three grownups who went out on this evening excursion.

When we got to the forest we climbed out of the car to see that the ground was covered with a sea of blueberry shrubs. Being a novice, I had no real strategy as to how to go about accumulating this blue treasure, so I just started picking. Moved along. Picked some more. Listened to the quiet.

Me not being used to the constant forward bending made itself known after a while, so I really had to focus on activating my core muscles (yet another reason to work on my abdominals...). And the blueberries were everywhere. No deep thoughts here, nor did I attempt any type of reflective meditation. I was just in the moment. Picking. Smelling the fresh air. Noticing the setting sun's rays engulf me. Tasting the tart bluerberry juice spreading itself all over my fingers and hands.

Finally, I could no longer ignore the fact that my back was really tired. No wonder; when we got to the car I found out that we had been there for two hours. I had completely transcended any sense of time.

And now I have liters of blueberries filling my fridge that will brighten my breakfast and baking for months to come.