Photo credit: Daily News-Miner
I was walking down the trail when I came across two Native women inspecting the ground alongside the path.
“They out yet?” I asked as I passed them.
“Have you seen any?” One asked in reply.
“No, I haven’t, but I wouldn’t trust my judgement.”
The second woman said, “I think it’s a bit early, but they are right around the corner!”
I agreed it was too early, but she was also correct that the blueberries would be ‘right around the corner’. Once that happens, the trail would be lined with people carrying little, red, berry pickers and white, plastic buckets.
I’m not a fan of combat fishing, and I have no patience for combat berry picking, but it is a social event that many others mark on their calendars. I know where there are always blueberries on the Back 40 that my friends and I go to when the urge comes to stock up, but for the most part that bounty gets eaten by the birds and the bears.
Still, for a period of time every summer, Interior Alaska sets up an all you can eat buffet for blueberry fans. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the competition… both four legged and two.
June 21st, 2016 at 3:55 PM
You really know how to hurt a guy. Yes I have found ways to deal with the heat and loss of my home in the woods but I forgot about the blueberries. The hours spent in the nearby woods gathering buckets of delicious blue ‘candy’ and the minutes spent devouring them in the cabin at night! …and people wonder why I am so grumpy.
June 22nd, 2016 at 3:41 AM
Well, Pete, I imagine you can get your revenge when I post the first -40 story. I assume we will see one this winter.
Until then, I will fill a bucket in your honor.