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Early Morning Low Tide
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There are moments that I find myself so seduced by the life
of a place that I want to abide there for a while. Here on Vashon Island I want
to be part salal or sword fern in the wooded forests, part hawk or eagle riding
the thermals over the bay, part otter or seal who playfully while away their
days between the land and the sea, but in mid August when blackberries are
sweet and pump and fragrant, I am happy to be fully human.
On
this hazy morning, the air is pregnant with the smells of wild rose, ripe
blackberries, and the salty mudflats created by the low tide. There’s something
about the dampness that accentuates the fullness of the season and pulls me
from my slumber at the crack of dawn. Today I head off to explore the
particularly alluring long seemingly deserted driveway that is loaded with
blackberry bushes. Thick, tall grass fills the center lane and bindweed and
thistle carpet where tires used to tred. All along the south-facing side of
the road, a tangle of blackberries flow over the neglected landscaping, so I
figure no one lives here anymore and the untouched berries are up for grabs.
I’m
well prepared...dressed in nylon pants and shirt the thorns can’t penetrate,
and in my back pocket I have a pair of pruners. Blackberries grow on the
previous year’s vines, so the best berries are often hidden under the long
thorny new vines. By cutting off the new growth, I gain access to masses of
untouched berries. I practice my yoga moves as I pick...tilting, reaching,
balancing, squatting with intention so as not to get snagged...it’s a game I
play. I’m always trying to get the one that is just out of reach! I’m
particular and only pick the plump sweet berries because I have plans: a crisp,
freezer jam, and juice that I’ll mix with apple cider when the fall crop is
ready. A little further down the lane I see there’s an apple tree hidden in the
tangles, so I cut my way in and glean a few Gravensteins to add to the crisp.
As
I head back to the house, my eyes dip and rise between blackberry vines and the
top of the hill where I spotted a pair of red tailed hawks circling earlier. Suddenly
a deer and two fawns brake through the brush and bounce across the road. I love
the way the babies boing boing boing behind their mamas! I want to be part fawn
today or part red-tailed hawk and move the way they do, but I’m also happy to
have my bucket overflowing with the sweetness of the season ...it’s pretty
wonderful just being human here on this island in the middle of the Puget
Sound.
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| Wild Blackberries |
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| Ready for Sauce |
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| Juice |
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| Blackberry Cobbler |
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| Frozen Blackberry Juice |
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| Geese on a Stroll |
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| The End |
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