I met a deer this morning. She was crossing the path in the woods. I was heading out to look for some morning blueberries . She stood and stared at me as deers do and I stared back. It seems she was surprised to see me. As if she wanted to say, oh what are you doing up? There is a magical silence that appears when a deer stares at you. Curious but majestic creatures. She kept her distance, but showed no fear. And we shared the morning silence for a minute or two. I broke first and turned the other way. I felt I should respect her privacy, it is after all, probably her woods. She watched me for a while, nibbled some bushes and then she was gone.
I turned my attention to the blueberries. And the blueberries are everywhere here. I wonder whether deers eat blueberries or do they prefer the green bushy part of the plant. Who knows…. There is enough here for us both. At first I find lots but meager small berries. Picking wild forest blueberries in Sweden is a fairly slow task. One sees where the Swedes develop their patience, although nowadays, they probably prefer to go to the shop like the rest of us. Sweden has enormous shops. Maxi Supermarkets that provide your shopping experience and daily exercise all in one. Today though, I am venturing for the berries. After a while I look down thinking I have picked loads of berries and feel my own impatience as I see a meager amount covering the bottom of the bowl. Wild blueberries are tiny. So tiny, they resemble the size of baby peas. But unlike baby peas , each one hangs individually from the tiny bushes on the forest floor. I try pulling off several at a time , but this is an ineffective strategy resulting in purple fingers and in the end only one or two berries make it to my bowl, the rest roll off to the forest floor. What a waste I think. But its ok. There are lots more. I travel further into the forest , away from the little path hoping the berries will be fatter. Indeed they are. And all the while I am thinking of their nutritional value with satisfaction. My little ones love them, gobbling them up. Last week we picked them together, the little one loves to pick them, but we were ill equipped with only our hands to carry them. They were gone by the time we made it back down to the car, all thoughts of proper hygiene abandoned to the delicious wild berries. These ones though, I will wash properly, while searching my conscience for solutions. Perhaps a worm Kur for us all when we get home. I am sure the girls will be thrilled….. mostly , I am thinking of the high vitamin content found in fresh wild berries, far higher than the ones in the shops. Worth picking. But for every great benefit, there’s a dark side that must be considered and in my case …a price to be paid:
While I am squatting in the forest harvesting the best of Swedish mother natures vitamins, the early morning mosquitos are also delighted with the feast they have found. Their preferred target being my ass, and they settle into creating a lumpy itchy terrain out of it, which should have me itching my way through the day. When I get back, I will have to do a thorough tick check. Tick checks leave no room for catholic modesty. When it comes to ticks, its strip off and be inspected from top to bottom for intruders. There is no place for shame or shyness and so my children have grown up very comfortable with naked bums and thorough inspections, as have I. It is a far cry from my catholic Irish upbringing, but a necessity when stomping around in the forests, fields, and even gardens of mainland Europe and Scandinavia. When they were little, I created a song for them and they still like to sing it while we search. “Ticky, ticky, ticky, where are you hiding.”
NOTE:
OK fine , so there is a nutritional note worth mentioning after all: Swedish Blue Berries are not really Blueberries, they are related to Blueberries but actually Bilberries. Inside they tend to be slightly reddish unlike Blueberries which are greenish inside. They contain 5 times more antioxidants than blueberries, are good for reducing inflammation, preventing cancer and heart disease and a whole lot more…. They are packed with Vitamin C , Vitamin D and all the good stuff… As a purple/blue food , they are rich in Anthocyanins which really just means … eat that rainbow.. blue/ purple foods are good for you ! I have seen rhumors of DNA and cell repair …so really all in all. Super foods in their own right…