Growing up as a dirt-eating-desert-child, when it did rain, I immediately ran inside so I wouldn't be electrocuted by lightning...a deep fear I had as a child...now that I'm older and so much more wiser, I spit on the rain. Stephanie wanted to go pick berries to make a fresh blueberry pie for her son ...when she asked me if I wanted to join her, a few days ago, it was sunny outside and I yes! This morning, however, it was raining...and not the typical Northwest rain...no...no drizzle about it...it was POURING down...but instead of calling and backing out, the NEW ME donned a rain jacket, rain boots and a ball cap and off I went! I'm so proud..the new me is a much braver version than the old me.
That's Stephanie in the Little Red Riding Hood Ensemble...she is quite the expert picker...when her bucket was poured out to be weighed she didn't have any leaves or stems or rotten berries...I had them all! When we first got to the U-Pick place, Mt. Si, in the background was barely visible...but as the morning went on the clouds lifted a bit and the mountain came out...as we Northwesterners like to say. It was incredibly beautiful - even in the rain. Mt. Si is about 5,000 feet high - we once went on a family outing there and we were going to hike the mountain, which has trails all the way to the top...we made it about 5
0 yards before the k
ids started 
whining - and 
I was ever so grateful
that I had raised
wusses! I took Stephanie's advice and froze a lot of my berries - laying them flat on a cookie sheet until frozen and then putting them into Zip-lock bags. Now when I want blueberries for my oatmeal I can just toss in a few frozen ones - they'll cool the oatmeal down as they defrost.
Of course there is a blueberry pie in my future and possibly a blueberry crisp...but right now I'm all blueberried out!
