Berry Season Has Arrived!

Growing up with parents who passionately farmed a rather large and complex kitchen garden was lost on me until fairly recently. Where others might have focused on learning about favorable soil conditions or optimal times to plant, all I saw were 50-foot long rows of weeds under 98-degree and 95% humidity Maryland weather. There were a few bright spots, of course. My Mother’s homemade dilled green beans, strawberry jam and blackberry cobblers were family addictions.

Fast forward to the Oregon summer that has finally arrived. The first strawberries of the season have ripened and the thought of picking one’s own stock under a warm and breezy Saturday sun is intoxicating. Rows and rows and rows of berries (weeded by someone else!) await our eager fingers. Sore muscles and aching backs fade before the thought of rows and rows and rows of fresh jam (made by me!).



The odd berry and dirt stain that colors my fingertips will soon fade, but the personal satisfaction of canning 35 pounds of strawberries with my sister and nieces will linger till the last jar is eaten sometime in the dark of winter.

The urge to go shopping is sometimes unbearable

Insider sale emails for only the select few! Flirty commercials announcing mega half-yearly sales! Colorful window displays along busy city streets tempt you inside! Preferred shopper coupons and bonus points that talk you into spending more! How does one resist?!

While definitely not one to decline $20 off my next pair of shoes (which are surely justifiable in some fuzzy, illogical way), I find that sometimes the best way to get my shopping fix is by spending someone else’s money. Nooooo, I don’t mean by actually spending someone else’s money, I mean by ‘helping’ a good friend, neighbor or friend’s brother’s roommate to find better clothes at a better price that most assuredly they could not have found on their own. What a thrill to select a killer outfit that they would not have picked out for themselves! What dizzy excitement to find the perfect funky accessory to match their new duds! The bliss of walking home with treasures in tow!

As both the lucky recipient of such attention and the happy consultant on dark wash or distressed, I can attest to the retail therapy enjoyed by both parties – shopping urges are relieved, wallets are lightened, wardrobes are updated, egos are massaged. Unless, of course, the person who tags along on your shopping excursion refuses to believe they are color blind or has a 3-store limit…

Comfortable Clutter

There is something wonderfully relaxing and engaging about a home that is cluttered with the various mementos of a well-traveled life. Hand painted tiles sit comfortably next to collections of seashells and stones. Assorted pots and crockery frame snapshots and smiles. Colorful paintings, drawings and posters guide movement along hallways and walls. All promise singular explanation.

Such treasures spilling from warm family rooms and kitchens onto porches and gardens welcome friends, family, and strangers as one, assuring all that conversation and laughter will follow. Long forgotten tales of adventure, lost luggage, affable locals, and wrong turns ending in happy discoveries are shared amongst plates of food and glasses of wine. Smiles and candles burn long into the night.

Not easily replicated, this charm is a true art that is cultivated over a lifetime and across many paths. It flows from a wonder about all that this earth offers and a quiet urge to compare and understand the many facets of the human experience. I admire and aspire to such engagement.