Blackberries

Last weekend I went out to Clear Creek to check on the progress of the raspberries that grow along the pylon line. I am crazy about raspberries, and wild ones have way more flavor than commercially grown ones, in addition to being free.

To my surprise, the blackberries were already starting to get ripe. The last several years have been disappointing for blackberries, but this year...holy cow! It's going to be a bumper crop.

This evening when it had cooled down to 80 degrees or so, I went out again with a little bucket. The raspberries are still not ripe, but I got enough blackberries to...well, not quite cover the bottom of the bucket. But I got some! And I ate them before I got home.

On my way back, I came across a handsome garter snake who was so sleek that I think he must have just shed his skin. He must have been irritated with me, first almost stepping on him where he was basking on the warm dirt of the trail, then sticking my camera in his face like some kind of demented paparazzi. I got a good photo before he slithered off into the raspberry canes, though.

When I got home, I did what I almost always do when I get home from even a short hike: dumped all my clothes in the washer and jumped into the shower to shampoo my hair and check for ticks. Once when I was in college I found a dead tick in my hair after shampooing, and ever since I've assumed shampooing kills ticks. But tonight I was thinking about that--no lie--as I stepped out of the shower, when a tick literally dropped out of my hair onto my shoulder, and it was kicking its horrible little legs in a drop of water. So I guess shampooing doesn't help, but it is a good way to check the scalp.

I forgot to put on any bug repellent before I went out this evening, so by tomorrow I'll probably be itching like mad from chigger bites. But it will be worth it, because those were some good blackberries.