The Miracle of Blueberries

I picked blueberries this weekend in the woods behind a friend's house. Instead of wearing a yogurt carton tied with string around my neck, I wore this berry "bucket" around my waist like a fanny pack. It is so well designed: made of canvas with a lip in front in case I bend over too far and berries try to spill out on the ground. (a lot of berry pickers have spent time picking berries out of the ground after accidentally dumping them.) Like my handmade berry bucket, this one also leaves both hands free for faster picking. It is made in Kake, Alaska and it makes me feel like a professional berry picker. I swear I get more berries with it. And speaking of more berries, the blueberries and huckleberries are thick, millions and millions of them dotting the bushes in the woods and meadows. Luscious organic (how can they be otherwise?) fruit reliably show up for us (and the bears): not only blueberries and huckleberries, but salmonberries, nagoon berries, thimbleberries, crowberries, high bush cranberries and MORE. Their annual appearance reminds us that abundance is the natural order of the universe. And I am grateful for it.