FINAL PICKING!

Friend Helen commented last week how much she loved "Fresh Blueberries". There is not much that we can do to help with Dale, but picking blueberries-WELL WE CAN DO THAT! I asked Sonja-"Blueberry Picker Extraordinare" if she would help me pick Helen a gallon. As always, she was quick to volunteer. WELL I did not know what I was getting myself into-AS USUAL! It seems that this group of women that I run with take their Blueberry Picking VERY SERIOUS! Here I am thinking you can just skip through the patch and reach over and berries will fly into your bucket-NO SUCH LUCK!

The berries are VERY PICKED OVER by this time of the season. Sonja QUICKLY explains that I need to get down and up under the bushes to find the remaining
Good Berries". OK-GREAT-I just ran 5 miles and now she wants me to squat down with legs that feel like taut rubber bands are running through them! The next thing I hear is that the berries need to be a certain size and I need to taste them and make sure they are sweet. OK-I DO NOT LIKE BLUEBERRIES! Ever obedient-----I start tasting the berries as I go to new bushes. Let me fill you in-THEY TASTE VERY BLUEBERRIE! If they are not ripe, they are bitter/tart. Helen should know this was the biggest sacrifice, but I dutifully tasted away!

Sonja picked Lisa up after our run and she went "Picking" with us. Here she is after proclaiming she had discovered "The Mother Lode." Big floppy hat and LOTS OF SUNSCREEN-Chemo makes your skin super sensitive to the sun.

The only thing Sandra is MORE SERIOUS ABOUT than running is picking fruit. Note that her gallon bucket is full and she is still tasting away. The pursed lips are a definite give away to a mouth full of berries. We never heard a peep from her until her bucket was full and THEN she came to taste the berries we were pulling.

FEEL VERY SORRY FOR THE BUSH! You will note 3-THREE Pickers attacking the same bush! I am sure the vultures picked it clean before they finished.

Helen when Sonja told you that "She picked all the good ones"-well truth be known-SHE PROBABLY DID.

I picked up the '"PRIZE" for the new contest coming Friday today. Is it unethical for me to enter my own contest-HUMMMMMMM! Needless to say-I LOVE LOVE LOVE the prize!