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Years ago when we lived just a mile or two away from Dad and Mom, the kids would take turns spending the night with them. They kept track of whose turn it was but each of them sometimes seemed to try to sneak in an extra turn.
Well, it was Roxanna’s turn to spend the night one weekend during the summer and the blackberries were coming in on the farm. Mom and Dad asked her if she would like to go pick blackberries with them and she excitedly agreed!
So the next morning, they took their blackberry picking pails to the car and drove to the farm where the blackberries were growing. Roxanna was prepared for the bright summer sun and had her sunglasses on.
Now, the farm is over a hundred acres and the blackberries grew in the hills. Roxanna was a little city-slicker used to, at most, three or four acres of flat land where a person could stand in one corner of the yard, look around, and see anyone standing in the yard unless they were hiding behind the house or a tree. She wasn’t used to overgrown hillsides with woods all around with little rises and dips along the way.
Before beginning to pick berries, Grandma explained to Roxanna that she and Papaw had two different ways of picking berries. Grandma stayed at a bramble picking all of the ripe berries. Papaw, on the other hand, moved quickly from bramble to bramble picking the largest and prettiest berries and moved fast. You might say that Grandma was Papaw’s cleanup crew.
Mom asked who Roxanna wanted to go with and she eagerly said that she wanted to go with Papaw. Mom asked if she was sure, because he would be moving fast. Roxanna still wanted to go with Papaw.
So off Papaw and Roxanna went. It didn’t take long for them to be out of Mom’s sight as Mom followed them, picking the many ripe berries that had not caught their attention.
Well, after picking for a while Mom heard Roxanna calling. Papaw had gotten way ahead of her and out of sight and she could not find him. Mom called back to her to let her know that they hadn’t run off and left her and Roxanna told Mom to come to her.
Well, Mom had not finished picking and she called for Roxanna to come to her. Mom told her that she would keep calling to her and she could follow her voice over the dips and rises until she reached her. So Mom is calling out, Roxanna is following her voice and just as she almost reaches Mom, she runs into a spider web that was stretched between two bushes.
Roxanna became hysterical, crying, flailing her arms and saying “I wanna leave! I wanna leave! I wanna leave!”
Mom finally talked Roxanna down and she told her that they could not leave until they had picked blackberries, which is the reason they drove out to the farm in the first place. Mom told Roxanna that she could stay right where she was and she and Papaw would finish picking the berries and get her on the way back to the car.
Well, Mom and Dad finished their berry picking, found Roxanna sitting in the spot where Mom had left her, and they drove back home.
Roxanna lost her sunglasses somehow in all of the hysteria, but she took away a couple of things besides blackberries. First, if you go blackberry picking with Papaw and Grandma, you stay and pick with Grandma. Second, you don’t sit on the bare ground in the woods because chiggers are critters best avoided!
Well, it was Roxanna’s turn to spend the night one weekend during the summer and the blackberries were coming in on the farm. Mom and Dad asked her if she would like to go pick blackberries with them and she excitedly agreed!
So the next morning, they took their blackberry picking pails to the car and drove to the farm where the blackberries were growing. Roxanna was prepared for the bright summer sun and had her sunglasses on.
Now, the farm is over a hundred acres and the blackberries grew in the hills. Roxanna was a little city-slicker used to, at most, three or four acres of flat land where a person could stand in one corner of the yard, look around, and see anyone standing in the yard unless they were hiding behind the house or a tree. She wasn’t used to overgrown hillsides with woods all around with little rises and dips along the way.
Before beginning to pick berries, Grandma explained to Roxanna that she and Papaw had two different ways of picking berries. Grandma stayed at a bramble picking all of the ripe berries. Papaw, on the other hand, moved quickly from bramble to bramble picking the largest and prettiest berries and moved fast. You might say that Grandma was Papaw’s cleanup crew.
Mom asked who Roxanna wanted to go with and she eagerly said that she wanted to go with Papaw. Mom asked if she was sure, because he would be moving fast. Roxanna still wanted to go with Papaw.
So off Papaw and Roxanna went. It didn’t take long for them to be out of Mom’s sight as Mom followed them, picking the many ripe berries that had not caught their attention.
Well, after picking for a while Mom heard Roxanna calling. Papaw had gotten way ahead of her and out of sight and she could not find him. Mom called back to her to let her know that they hadn’t run off and left her and Roxanna told Mom to come to her.
Well, Mom had not finished picking and she called for Roxanna to come to her. Mom told her that she would keep calling to her and she could follow her voice over the dips and rises until she reached her. So Mom is calling out, Roxanna is following her voice and just as she almost reaches Mom, she runs into a spider web that was stretched between two bushes.
Roxanna became hysterical, crying, flailing her arms and saying “I wanna leave! I wanna leave! I wanna leave!”
Mom finally talked Roxanna down and she told her that they could not leave until they had picked blackberries, which is the reason they drove out to the farm in the first place. Mom told Roxanna that she could stay right where she was and she and Papaw would finish picking the berries and get her on the way back to the car.
Well, Mom and Dad finished their berry picking, found Roxanna sitting in the spot where Mom had left her, and they drove back home.
Roxanna lost her sunglasses somehow in all of the hysteria, but she took away a couple of things besides blackberries. First, if you go blackberry picking with Papaw and Grandma, you stay and pick with Grandma. Second, you don’t sit on the bare ground in the woods because chiggers are critters best avoided!
Oh my, how great to have this family story preserved. Well done.
ReplyDeleteYou are so very encouraging and I so appreciate it. Thank you! 🙂✌🏻
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