Ben is obsessed with u-pick during the summer and fall and it's pretty easy to see why once I get out into farm country with him. When I'm out in the middle of a field picking perfect fruit off of the tree, I get this insane "the world is bountiful!" emotion. Probably the opposite of the emotion I experience on a daily basis when watching the world news flash by or wandering city streets amidst the concrete. It's just so perfect underneath an apple tree, the whole world smelling like sweet and crisp Gravensteins, and watching bugs and bees go about their daily business, eating fruit and wandering lazily about a field.
Out on Sauvie Island on Labor Day, we wandered about a prune plum orchard, picked a box full of massive apples, bought a bear full of local berry honey, picked fat tomatoes, and bell peppers. Our house looks like a farm stand and everything feels right in the world - big red fruits and veggies filling the kitchen full of sweet, farm-fresh smells.
Strawberry Fields Forever