This morning was truly a blessed morning. It began at the early hour of 6:30 am. How can this be blessed? Because the one and only Blueberry Ranch opens at 6:00 am, and my time of arising gave me early access to this heavenly haven of goodness. My wonderful mother and I drove quickly to the Location of Goodness, and there began our divine endeavor.
Blueberry Ranch is approximately 80 acres of nothing but blueberry bushes. These bushes are 5 to 6 feet high, and each possess in the area of 80 blueberries. I quickly perfected a blueberry harvesting scheme optimized for maximum pickage.
I approached a bush and quickly ascertained if it fulfilled two main criterium.
1 - The bush possessed over 90% of its original blueberry contents
2 - The blueberries were large and grouped
If the bush passed inspection, I proceeded to harvest. Holding my 3 gallon bucket beneath a large branch of blueberries, I passed my other hand down the branch, stripping any loose blueberries from their holds and into my awaiting bucket. This ten second motion removed nearly 90% of the ripe blueberries on the branch in question. If any single large and scrumptious blueberries remained, I inserted them in my mouth. I then moved to the next loaded branch on the bush. In this fashion I could harvest about 80% of a bush's yield in less then 5 minutes.
In the following hour I harvested a little over 12 bushes. When the call to leave occurred, I had single-handedly (ok, with both hands) picked 10 pounds of blueberries. My mother's 8 pounds were a testament to her own slightly less vigorous but still efficient harvesting technique.
For less then 20 dollars were retained all of said blueberries, and returned with the booty to the house. There I proceeded to eat blueberries while my mother froze large quantities on cookie sheets and bagged them for later usage.
Thus, in the time it takes most of my readers to sleep in, I procurred and preserved an eighth of my own weight in blueberry goodness.
I win.
I would be remiss if I did not post this disturbing link. I think children should be warned from it as full of witchcraft, just like Harry Potter.
Quote: "Look at this new age phrase. "I have a very visual imagination. I see it, then I try to describe what is in my mind's eye," This minds eye concept is the heart of the new age movement. It is the ability to escape ones confines of this world and to explore the other dimensions of existence."
Clearly, a visual imagination is of the devil!