Berry Picking!

 

Hi everyone! As always I hope this post finds you doing well! 

  It has been a rough couple of weeks around here for me. For whatever reason I've just been really homesick. I don't even know where home is but I know that I miss it. And I know that this new place doesn't feel like home yet. I suppose for it to feel like home at this point is a bit too much to ask since it's only been 7 weeks. It definitely feels longer than that but objectively I know 7 weeks is not a lot of time. 

  Anyway, today I got to do something really fun which was go blue berry picking up on the tundra. Berry picking has been going on for thousands of years around here and the natives are total pros. They're also pros at making things from the berries. 

 Of course I took some pictures so I could show everyone. 

Above is the tundra and this is where all the berries grow. Currently it's blueberry season. It's very expansive and very serene. You do have to look out for bears though so it's hard to get into a meditative head space but it is beautiful. 

    This is another pic of the tundra but it's a little closer view of the ground and vegetation. One of the tricky things about the tundra is that the ground is very soft. It's kind of like walking in wet sand, if you stand in any one place for too long you'll start to sink and each step you take you are definitely sinking into the ground. It's very uneven and easy to roll your ankle or lose your balance. 

    They don't call it "foraging for berries" for nothing. The berries surprisingly blend very well with the surrounding vegetation and you have to get real low to the ground to see them or find them. (I found this stressful as I have a real fear of bears). Anyway, the benefit to being so close to the ground is that you can smell the wonderful tundra smell. I know that sounds nuts but it's honestly the best. It's sweet but also earthy smelling. It's the best. 

   One of my coworkers told me he'd never seen anyone with matching jacket and boots. I told him I was happy to be that person for him :) 

Above & below are some berries before I picked them!

 They are smaller compared to the store bought berries but they taste so much better! 

Another pic of the tundra and the nearby lake! 

I did pretty okay for it being my second time! Here's my yield: 

 Here they are all washed and leaf and twig free ready for me to make muffins!

This is what washing berries does to your hands: 

All in all it was a great experience and I had a great time. It definitely repaired my first experience berry picking which was a low-key disaster. It was super hot out, I was wearing the wrong clothes and shoes, I didn't find any berries (I didn't look that hard to be honest), and I threw up when I got home because I drank too much water too quickly because it was so hot. 

Tonight I am trying to stay up late because supposedly if I do I will see the northern lights!!! Ahhh!!! I'm SO excited! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Veronica