You will find short stories on this site. Most are autobiographical. Some are fiction.

LESSONS FROM THE BERRY PATCH II

Introduction

My mind wanders as I pick black berries. I find that if I pay attention to the procedures by which I pick, my berry picking technique improves. I came to realized that many of the insights into berry picking technique have application to life in general. These mental meanderings lead me to try writing them as stream of consciousness. Using the record function on my cell phone, which I placed in my shirt pocket, I went on picking and thinking out loud. This is the selective transcription of those musings.

Lesson Six

This season I have picked berries using the same paths taken in prior years. Now, at the end of the season, the berries were no longer plentiful. They tend to be too small or not quite ripe. So I ventured off my regular route. Using hand pruners I cut my way into the berry thicket and found clusters of large ripe berries.

The lesson here is different from that of simply changing one’s point of view, as described before. In this case I strike out into a new location to seek better berries. Sometime it is worth making the effort to move into an area where you’ve not been before, in order to find new opportunities.

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Lesson Seven

It is tempting to take berries which are not quite ripe. If I insist on getting such a berry by pulling on it and thereby shaking the cluster, I am likely to dislodge the ripest berries which will fall into oblivion among the thorny tangle of canes. It is best when encountering a resistant berry for me to leave them be until the next rotation of picking when they will be ripe and sweet.

It is human nature to be forceful in one’s efforts. We praise the the person with a strong will. And yet there are many circumstances where force is not beneficial. Being able to recognize when insistence is warranted and when it is not. This is a key to success in most of life’s endeavors.

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Lesson Eight

This year, there were more misty and drizzly days in August than usual. As a result there are many “mummy berries”. These are berries which have become moldy and dried into a fibrous cocoon. I will occasionally find a ripe berry next to a mummy berry. These are often molding from the spot where they touch the mummy. It is usually better to ignore berries which lay next to a mummy berry. There is a good chance that a good berry lying next to a mummy berry will be have a moldy spot. Only by picking it an looking carefully can I tell if it has been contaminated by the mummy. If it is molding, I throw it away rather than have it ruin my other berries.

So it is with picking one’s friends and associates. Ask about their past experiences. Pay attention to the environment in which they were raised. If in doubt, look more carefully than usual, to be sure that their personality does not have a rotten spot which could surface later and cause personal injury.

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Lesson Nine

I am often tempted to stop picking and improve the patch by pruneing canes which are growing in the wrong direction. I resist this temptation because it is better to leave them and not take time from picking. It is better to pick while there are berries and return in the Winter to prune errant runner canes when there are no berries to pick. I find that when I have time to consider it, that rather than cutting them. Healthy canes may be redirected to enhance the structure of the patch.

The lesson here is that it is better to stay focused on the task at hand. Deal with distractions, when the time is right.

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Lesson Ten

Blackberries are a plant which most people abhor. They pull them out and poison them. I on the other hand cultivate them. And from them I make an very good wine.

Look for the good in things around you. Be willing to work to make those good qualities the predominant ones. This applies to people as well as other things.

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Lesson Eleven

Don’t bother with the tiny berries though they are ripe and delicious.

They weigh much less than a large ripe berry. One would have to pick many in order to be equivalent of one normal berry. Earlier in the season I wouldn’t have bothered, but now with the prospect that this may be the last picking, I am taking all of them. It is a matter of time and opportunity. Is there a chance that these small berries will develop into large berries? It appears not, as the harvest time for blackberries on the northwest coast is the month of August, and this is the last day of August.

There will be times to be choosy and times when it is prudent to be inclusive. One must know the difference and proceed in accordance with the situation.

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Lesson Twelve

When I do something which shakes a cluster of berries there is a good chance that the biggest and ripest berries will fall. So it is prudent for me to pick the largest ripest ones which can be reached without disturbing the cluster. Then to lift the cluster gently in order to reach the ripe berries under it. I try to observe what causes berries to fall so I can improve my technique and consequently avoid loosing choice berries in the future. By thinking ahead, and picking prudently, I can collect most of the ripe berries in a cluster.

So it is in life. Plan ahead when facing a task. Break it down into a series of steps. Consider the impact of each step on the others to assure that the execution of each step does not jeopardize the chance of performing the subsequent steps well and finishing the tasks successfully. Then proceed observing the ramifications of your actions to confirm that your expectations were correct. When they weren't consider the source of error and thereby continuously learn better ways to perform similar tasks in the future.

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Thirteen:

Most children spend many Summer hours picking in a berry patch. Surely they must encounter these same situations when picking berries. And yet, I am equally certain that they don’t associate their experiences with lessons for living their lives. What is it about being old that brings us to ponder life’s lessons? Perhaps those childhood experiences stick in some unseen reaches of their child minds, and as such, enhance the execution of their later lives.