We Be Jammin'

On Memorial Day Monday, Luke and I went strawberry picking.  Keep in mind that this was something I despised doing as a kid.  Early morning, picking and sweating, bugs, then coming home to clean and prepare them.  A common argument heard in our house was "We don't even like strawberries!  Why do we have to help with this?"  Mom would always respond with (keep in mind too that she knew that we knew that she also did not like strawberries) "Your dad likes them and he has to work.  Sometimes when you're an adult you do things you don't like for someone else."  or "You'll understand when you grow up."  Another often heard expression was, "Sometimes when you're an adult, your tastes change and you like things that you did not like as a kid."

At the time, all of these logics seemed quite illogical, but DANG-I hope I'm the mom that was always right someday! ;)

I honestly admit that I had yet to go strawberry picking as an adult until Monday.  I obviously did not know what I was doing at first either...

*We got all the way to our row with our metal trays and the guy says..."You're going to need baskets to put the berries in..."  I obviously misunderstood the people at the front-I thought it was either one or the other, not both the basket and the metal tray.

*As we get settled back into our row with BOTH items, the lady at the front starts yelling..."WE NEED THE PERSON IN THE BLUE VAN TO MOVE IT!  YOU CAN'T PARK IT HERE!" Repeat (5 dozen times-well, maybe it was only 4 or 5 times, but geez...she didn't give anyone much of a chance to claim it!)

Finally, after moving my car and walking back to our row, we got the chance to actually pick some strawberries.  Luke stuck with it fairly well for about 1/2 a tray and then he got tired so he chose to keep the conversation going while I finished the picking.  I wondered quite often if everyone gets to have such a diverse coversation when picking strawberries.  Some of our topics included:  people in Mexico speaking Spanish; people in France speaking French; people in both countries probably also speaking English; dolphins; orcas aka "killer whales;  traveling for a family wedding next summer; hotels; and why there was straw in the strawberry patch.

I worked up the strawberries a couple nights later.  The following day Luke and Big Sis helped me to make our first ever batch of strawberry freezer jam.  They were wonderful helpers and the jam has turned out quite well.  I'm looking forward to the upcoming blueberry and peach seasons to try our hands at some other jams, but I think I may have to study up before I take Luke fruit picking again!  I barely survived being able to answer all of his strawberry picking questions! :)