Blackberries
Old Man Farm has a lot of virtues: fresh, clear air; abundant, sweet spring water; a soul-changing landscape. It is a breathtakingly beautiful haven. It is NOT, however, the technological center of the universe.
When we moved here a few years ago, we still - inadvertently - shared a telephone line with our next door neighbour. Our Internet connection is limited to "cold molasses dialup". There's way too much to do around here to bother with cable or satellite television. And we long ago gave up our cell phone package, after discovering we could only get the thing to work from the top of the barn.
We said goodbye to a lot of technology in our first year here, and only realized how dependent we had become on it all once we'd weaned ourselves from it. So we had quite a bit of sympathy for recent visitors from the city, who had to relinquish their technological habits "cold turkey" during their stay with us.
The thirteen year old probably had the worst time, at least initially. Cut off from a few favorite telivision programs, and unable to chat with friends back home via MSN or cell phone, she seemed to go through a few days of techno-DTs. But youth is resilient. Before long, she had risen to the challenge and learned to drive a farm truck, pick fresh beans, contend with goats, and make a wicked blackberry jam. By the end of her visit, she conceded that she might like to be a farm girl - at least for a few weeks a year.
Her father had his own techno-deprived pain.
"I should have realized my Blackberry wasn't going to work here," he mourned.
I tried to console him by pointing out that there's a whole patch of blackberries at the top of our hill. And, when you think about it, my blackberries have some advantages over his:
1. My blackberries are free
2. They're more nutritious
3. You won't get in trouble for taking one on an airplane
Of course, his Blackberry doesn't attract bears...
3 comments:
Ottawa, 7/9/2006
Hi Kate!
And the rest of the fam.
Good story!! Like it very much.
By the way, I (we) visited your father yesterday! Blackberries all over the place:-) And the 13yr-old was regaining the citylife again. It's been a real pleasure seeing them again. Hope to hear from you too!
And to Brooke: "I agree:, Moose should be in the woods, not on the road"
Take care!!
Arjen
Cell service at our new place drops off 3 miles before you get there. We use battery power for electricity and should be able to have running water when we finally have time to tap into the spring on the place. We don't have an internet connection at home, so I have to get my fix at work for now. But we have goats again and the view is wonderful. Deer and elk are regular visitors. It's not as easy as life in town, but it's worth it for the peace and quiet.
Y'know, Kate, I think these days the airlines actually make a stink if you bring your own food on the airplane. And I can't imagine trying to explain to a TSA moron, who's never seen food that didn't come wrapped in plastic, what this strange thing called a "berry" actually is. The TSA halfwit would ask, "Where's the little green basket they come in, then?" I think the world actually HAS become so strange as that.
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