More raspberries than humanly possible
The accompanying pictures show the result of a mere two hours of modest labor. I have never seen raspberries so plentiful in my life; I was expecting the crop to be mediocre due to the cool, cloudy weather we've had recently. But evidently the unseasonably cool August we've had didn't have any ill effects. There were so many berries that I got lazy; I skipped the ones that were less-than-perfect, or that were slightly out of reach. The good thing is that there are plenty more (I barely scratched the surface), there are thousands of berries that will ripen in the coming week, and the bees were busily contributing to the process of making raspberries for future pickings.
The weather was fantastic today; not the usual ghastly heat and humidity of mid-August; it was rather like a day in late September; it was warm enough for shorts and t-shirt, but not so warm as to get all sweaty. There were enough clouds to provide a bit of relief from the brightness of the sun. I know some people who are decrying the "abnormal" weather we've had this summer, but I rather like the relief from the usual weather that makes me lose interest in being outdoors. This is indeed not normal for Illinois, but I'll take it while it lasts.
Amazingly, I got rather tan this afternoon - more tan than I seem to have obtained in recent years hanging out at the pool. Picking berries isn't exactly hard outdoors work like cutting hay or harvesting corn, but it surely feels a bit more "honest" than the way I usually wind up getting tan - i.e., it's obtained by working outdoors rather than by lounging in a reclining chair with my eyes closed.
Another thing I enjoyed about this afternoon's activity was the stress relief it provided. I was able to shut out thoughts about anything important at home or work. It was unbelievably relieving to have nothing to occupy my mind but the straightforward and repetitious (but enjoyable) task at hand.
I feel tired, too, but in a good way. I think I'll have very little trouble falling asleep tonight. Now to figure out all the delicious ways to enjoy this largesse of berries....