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

BERRY PATCH PHILOSOPHER

Introduction

Picking blackberries does not require much thought. It leaves the mind free to wander. I found that if I pay attention to berry picking techniques it can inspire insights into how I can be a better berry picker and, by extension, how one could better manage his life. I decided to try writing them as a stream of consciousness. Using the record function on my cell phone in my shirt pocket, I went on picking and thinking out loud. The following are transcriptions of those musings.

Lesson One

I am picking wild blackberries out in the sun enjoying the warmth of the day. As I reach for a ripe berry my eye is diverted to the next berry I will pick. My hand was left to complete the picking of the first berry, without the assistance of my mind and my vision. My thumb reached the berry before my forefinger has a chance to secure it. The berry was dislodged. It fell through the brambles down into the thorny tangle of dead canes and leaves. I curse my blunder.

So why fuss about the loss of one berry? Is it really something worthy of frustration? I should have payed attention to what I was doing. There is a more important lesson to be had, concerning the conduct of my life, to be found in such a berry-picking blunder.

That lesson is that when you decide on an objective, whether it is a blackberry, a mate, or a carrier. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted from that goal. Distractions often lead to failure.

Lesson Two

Often when standing before a cluster of berries I will pick all that I can see and move on. However as I move my point of view changes and if I look back, I often see clusters of berries behind canes and leaves. Berries which I would have overlooked. It was as if they did not exist and yet they were there, just not in sight.

By changing your point of view, you can open new opportunities. When it seems like you can’t find it, simply changing your point of view may reveal the path to what you seek. Clearly, this lesson extends beyond one’s visual position. The principle applies to many aspects of one‘s life, including one’s position on a disputed subject, as well as one’s religious or philosophical beliefs. This lesson also applies to maintaining a good relationship with other people.

Being willing to change your point of view is important. Being willing to question your assumptions, even basic beliefs, is the door that can open one’s mind to the realization that, what you thought was real, was not reality at all. Be willing to explore the prospect of changing your point of view. Move your head around a little. See if you can’t find opportunity, clarity of vision, and greater understanding.

Lesson Three

There is the risk of harm when picking blackberries. Their thorns are sharp and numerous. It is especially risky when stretching my arm through the canes to reach a cluster of berries. Each time I reach through the canes there is the prospect of pain. So I am tempted to pick more berries from a distant cluster than can be held in my berry-picking hand. Often I can’t hold onto all that I have picked. It is at these times I tend to ignore the fact that I may drop a few. There will be a number of berries lost in order to avoid the pain of reaching through a second time. By picking the last few berries I am likely to lose more than got by continuing to pick.

The lesson here is about taking more than you are capable of utilizing. It is a lesson about knowing one’s limits and one’s objectives. Knowing these and behaving accordingly. It is a lesson about greed, and taking more than you need.

Lesson Four

If I hold my hand under the cluster while searching through it with the other hand there is a chance that when a ripe berry is shaken loose, as they often are, I will be in a position to catch it.

The lesson here is, in life, as in the berry patch there is usually a way to position one’s self to take advantage of opportunities should they occur. So try to position your mind and your actions such that when unexpected opportunities occur, you are ready to take advantage of them.

Lesson Five

It is the last day of August. I am picking berries this late in the season so that I may have sufficient berries to make five batches of wine this year. This will be wine to be consumed five years from now. Five years from now I will be 87. The likelihood that I will be here to enjoy the wine made from these berries is not great. Carole is likely to outlive me. So even if I can’t enjoy the wine in five years, the knowledge that Carole will enjoy it is reason enough to keep picking.

The lesson here is to act while you can. Don’t waste your time with thoughts of possible adverse future events. Move ahead as if you will enjoy life forever. Then, even when the thing you most want is not attained, something good will come of your effort.

Lesson Six

This season I have picked berries using the same paths taken in prior years. Now, at the end of the season, when the berries are no longer plentiful. 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 above. In this case I strike out into a new location to seek better berries. The lesson here is that sometimes it is worth making the effort to move into an area where you’ve not been before, in order to find new opportunities.

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 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.

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 that lay next to a mummy berry. Only by picking it and looking carefully can I tell if it has been contaminated by the mummy. If it is showing any 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 that could surface later and cause you personal stress.

Lesson Nine

I am often tempted to stop picking and improve the patch by pruning canes that are growing in the wrong direction. I resist this temptation because it is better to leave them and not take the time needed for picking while there are berries and to return, in the Winter, to prune, or redirect, errant runner canes when there are no berries. I find that when I have time to focus I find some canes which may be redirected rather than cut them, in order 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.

Lesson Ten

Blackberries are a plant that most people abhor. They pull them out and poison them. I on the other hand cultivate them. And from them I make a 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 the good qualities in people, as well as in other things.

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 to equal the weight 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.

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 that can be reached without disturbing the cluster. Then to lift the cluster gently 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 losing 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.

Lesson Thirteen

I often use a berry ladder to get to the highest berries. I am willing to reach, when high on the ladder, but I don’t reach so far that I lose my balance and fall, suffering injury and loss of my bucket of berries.

Be willing to climb that ladder of success. But not so high that your situation is unstable. If you are in a situation you can’t handle you may fail and lose all the benefits of your previous work. As with other choices in life, good judgment, and risk-benefit evaluation are always beneficial.

Observation

Most children spend many summer hours picking berries. Surely they must encounter these same lessons about 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 our child minds, and as such, enhance the execution of our later lives. Lessons relating to how to conduct one’s life are occurring all around us, but we usually fail to make the generalizations necessary to grasp them.