In 2017, June 13th was the first day of picking blueberries and by June 19th, they were getting ripe faster than we could eat them. Much, much faster!
Alas, this winter was colder so the blueberries are slower. I’m counting the days and watching the calendar — I’m going to be seriously dismayed if I miss them entirely. Not so much so that I would change my plans: I’ve got campground reservations already paid for until after the 4th of July, so I’m going to be doing the things I’m planning on doing. But I do love blueberries right off the bush, warm from the sun, and specifically, from the fifth bush in the first row in my brother’s blueberry patch. I will be sad if I miss them this year.
Meanwhile, though, I’m having a lovely time with my niece and nephew.
My nephew’s playing PS4 games with me: we’re spending a lot of time in a game called Monster Hunter, which has both a story and much wandering around an interesting environment. I’m never going to be good at PS4 controls — the days of building that kind of fine-tuned muscle memory are probably long gone for me — but I’ve been having fun anyway, and he’s very tolerant of my incompetence.
My niece is walking the dogs with me and talking about books, friends, stories, words. On our most recent walk, we searched for synonyms for “walk.” I started us off with “stroll” and “saunter” and “mosey” — her dog likes to mosey while Zelda strides. My favorite was one of hers, “amble.” So we ambled along, building memories.
And when they’re at school, I’ve been writing. I suspect my first draft of the ending — the only part of the book that is going to be a true first draft, given how many revisions the first 2/3rd of the book have gone through — is going to be seriously underwritten. Every time I open my file and read my previous day’s words, I shake my head and spend the first hour of my writing time adding some context and setting, tweaking my descriptions and re-organizing chaotic dialogue.
But I really am in the ending and it really is pretty close. The scene I’m currently writing is turning out much longer than I expected it to be — despite or maybe because of the underwriting. But after this… two more scenes? Given that I’m not going anywhere for a week, if you don’t hear from me for a few days, it’s because I’m writing Grace and picking blueberries, with nothing much to blog about besides those two things.
Gorgeous photo of those blueberries! I could almost like them! LOL Thinking of your blueberry dilemma, could you pick some that are close to being ripe and set them out in your van–would they ripen indoors?? Just a thought. It really seems like you’ve finally reached the end of Grace. I wonder what you will do with yourself if you really do finish it. It’s been such a constant in your life. I’m sure you’ll come up with something, and no matter what it is, it’ll be good.
LOL, I have to admit, not liking blueberries is completely alien to me. They’re my favorite fruit. But not so much grocery store blueberries — like a lot of fruit, some of the store varieties have had all the taste bred out of them in order to last longer. Not my favorite! And alas, I don’t think blueberries ripen after you pick them. If you pick them green, they stay green. But they’re getting there. Maybe by the weekend I can post a blue picture!
Glad Grace is coming together for you. I love berries and cherries. I really love fresh fruit. I don’t think I would do well on a diet that didn’t include fruit.