Bounty <3

Back in the day, James and I planted raspberries and blueberries in what we call our “planting strip,” the small strip of land between the sidewalk and the street. It’s not very much space, and actually when we bought our house it was fully cemented over — one of the best things we did early on was to get rid of the concrete, fill it with soil, and plant. In the early spring it’s full of crocuses and hyacinths; now, it’s exploding with berries.

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(blueberries getting ripe!!:)

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The fact that our berries are between the sidewalk and the street makes them particularly public, which is THE BEST perk. Every day, we go out and forage our berries like the little bears we are, eating them right off the plants. Inevitably, at least one of our neighbors joins us, either because they just happen to be walking by or because they see us and come out. We entreat them to try the red, golden, AND black raspberries; we give them the plumpest blueberry. We chat and we munch. We get to know each other over berries in the neverending summer evening. And it is the best.

When we planted our little berries right by the sidewalk, I wondered if I would be annoyed that certainly people would pick and eat them as they walked past. “Those are our berries!” I imagined thinking. “We watered and cared for them and if other people browse then we don’t get to eat them!” But that has most definitely not been the case. It makes me so happy to share with our neighbors and whoever else walks past; I love it when I look out and see our mail carrier pluck one or two. The other night, one of our neighbors chatted for a while then brought his little toddler granddaughter back with a bowl to pick a few for later. It fully feels like we are feeding the neighborhood.

And sometimes I wonder if I should be picking more for myself, freezing them for later use, storing them up. But you know what? It is the best thing ever to eat them all as they ripen, to share the bounty with our neighbors, to fully partake, with the people around us, in the moment when they are at peak ripeness. This strikes me as a good metaphor for life as well. Drink deeply, y’all, when the drinking is good. Share it around, and even if it’s objectively fewer berries, or whatever, for you, it is always more for your soul.