BLACKBERRIES

The blackberries are ripe but scarce, last of the season. Stopped during a run to catch my breath and enjoy their sweetness. What great adventures are in store for me this coming year?

Five years ago another run the blackberries smaller, stunted at 10,000' in the Colorado Rockies. Ten years past the Catskill mountains in upstate New York, blackberries, blueberries and wild strawberries. A kid of fifteen hitchhiking south from Oregon, thankful for the nourishment they provided for the three days it took to reach Grandpa Tilden's house. Famished and broke in need of a bath, "Would you like to try our homemade blackberry cognac?"

Grandpa is gone now.

When he was fifteen my brother had (maybe?) his first big adventure hitchhiking to our Grandpa Tilden’s house in Oregon. I don’t know much about this trip at all and dearly wish I could ask him about it.

Just knowing the bare outlines of this story contributed to my seeing and admiring Mike as strong and self-reliant and valuing those qualities so much. Maybe we fail at these things sometimes, maybe far too often but the aspiration remains.