strawberry time

I'm definitely still riding the sick train...I woke up pretty late and slogged through the rest of the antemeridian before getting motivated enough to go outside, do some perfunctory weeding (my half hearted war against the weeds who are clearly winning most if not all skirmishes reminds me of the same way the US perfuctorily is fighting a war in afghanistan). After calling for a retreat, I shuffled on over to the bank.

Ready for a date with the petroleum purveyor I cranked up the resting beast and ambled down the road towards sauvie island. i had a greater mission, the mission of strawberries.
in this time of linden blossoms, strawberries are at their peak on the rolling plains of sauvie island, and today was the perfect day for picking...a day that was cool without being cold, neither rainy nor sunny, just the dull grey of cloudy skies, gentle on heads and eyes, and backs bent over the fields with dusty hands. It took me only half an hour to pick 12 gallons of strawberries.

one thing i have never noticed before is that when you pick strawberries, they make the most satisfying "snap" at the very moment you pluck the berry from the stem. a lovely sound indeed.
it was most pleasant to drive down the lanes of corylus alone but for a tractor, and stand in the field listening to the gentle swish of the sprinklers running, with only the flies for company.

i came home awhile later and plucked the fiesty mustard greens and some peas and brought them inside to make a stir fry with phu's leftover tofu. The mustard is beginning to bolt so I must redouble my efforts to eat it.
Later I ambled over to pick more linden blossoms, and walked home once the rain reappeared, passing by some more cherry trees and a woman with a shopping cart calvalcade. We discussed our mutual illness and i headed for home before the rain really began to fall.

The rest of the afternoon was rather uneventful. Before tackling the mountain of strawberries, I amused myself with this. Then it was time for action.