Last Pick

At our house in early summer we seem to always be infected with a blackberry virus. (Blackberry meaning fruit, not PDA.) The endless trails and recreation areas that surround our beautiful city are full of wild blackberries waiting to be picked during the end of June and begining of July. Casual picking has become a tradition and even an obsession for some of us. We have our own spot off the beaten path that we have kept top secret for years! As the kids have become older they are now picking more than they are eating and have become experts in the field of blackberry selection. It is funny to sit and listen to the conversations as the Emma and Noah are picking and to hear the things they are trying to teach Daegan. Today as we entered the patch Noah yelled "I think I hit the Jackpot!" This is blackberry speak for finding a lot of ripe fruit just hanging there. Later on I heard him say to Daegan "I think there is another jackpot back in there, but you better stay here so you don't get hurt." Daegan tried to follow him anyway and as Noah started to complain Emma said "Just let him go, if he gets hurt it's his own fault." (Blackberries are full of thorns and usually we can't tell if we are bleeding from the thorns or if it is juice dripping from our fingers.)

Jackpot!

Although Noah said jackpot on more than one occasion, it seems today may have been the last pick of the season. (I may sneak out one more time after the kids are in bed.) The heat wave we've had this week of several days over 100 degrees may have brought the season to a quick close. The kids have had another fun year of it, willing to sweat it out for some free fruit while waiting for mom to pick the last berry. One thing I know for sure is if we took a family vote to change our our last name from Drybread to another food related name, "Blackberry" would literally be the first pick.