A ripe old age

So today I went blueberry picking. Tony and I had a million errands to run and amidst all the chaos, we saw a little sign for a blueberry farm only a couple miles up the road. So we went.
At first, there was no one in sight of the little baby blue painted blueberry shack. Then, only a few minutes later- a very elderly man came walking out of his house. His dog, an antique dachshund as well, was at the edge of the walk, barking and barking, as if to let us know SHE knew we were there- and she was giving us fair warning. The old man got into a golf cart and zipped down that driveway at like 10mph. I was startled. He about 180'-ed into the gravel driveway next to the blueberry shack and immediately greeted us with a warm toothless smile and a story about the acquistion of his dog. "She was an older lady's dog and the lady had cancer. When she passed, I somehow got the dog but shes got all her shots and she does have a license but she gets her paw caught in her collar so I dont make her wear it." I wasnt sure if the old man thought we were dog catchers or the F.B.I, but he went on to tell us how he didnt have his hearing aide in today so he probably wouldnt be able to hear if we asked any questions but he'd be happy to get us a couple pails and we could start picking. We were happy to have met a free spirit like him. He joked with us numerous times about getting old. And when the time came to weigh our booty, which was well over 4 pounds.. he squinted his eyes at the super awesome antique weigh scale and said.. "Yep, well I figure you got yourselves around a pound here....so that'll be about 50 cents." We were quick to correct him in a LOUD voice and proceeded to hand him over as many dollars as we thought was what his actual price should be. He tried to push it back numerous times, and finally Tony told him to use the extra to buy doggy treats for the dog the lovely old man once called Tricky, and the next time called Shirky. He smiled a toothy grin and off we went to take our fresh pick home.

I thought about alot of stuff when I was wondering around that huge field for those 30 minutes. I thought about how that old man could have so much to be upset about. He was obviously aged.. and time was making moving around a bit difficult for him. It looked like he lived alone, as Im sure that dog who as we left he called Ticky, was his newly acquired life companion. He told us he had fallen off the couch a week or so ago and had really banged up his leg.."But thats what happens when you get to be an old man har har har." I thought to myself how those blueberry fields represented alot of things in my life too. For some part of their life they are just a small bush.. not fruit bearing, growing their roots deep to be able to florish with leaves and be jeweled with berries. Then the time comes.. the fruit grows, the pickers pick, and the tree seems to be left naked...fruitless, with nothing but broken branches and dead leaves, and the rejected berries left to rot and disappear. But within that time, that little bush regains its strength and the next year, and the next it is filled with fruit and adorned with lush green leaves.
I bet that man looks forward to berry season each and every year. I bet the different cars and different people that he gets to see bring a smile to that weathered face. He doesnt have that berry farm to make a million dollars, he has it to bring a little warmth to his life. He goes through the seasons much like a berry bush.. waiting and hoping, and wondering what it will be like this year when he gets to feel alive again with a farm full of people, and pickers, and little kids with buckets bigger than their heads.

It was an honor to pick at that mans farm today, and to have met an old soul with a certain sparkle in his eyes. No matter what happens now, day by day, he will relish the fact that he certainly did reach a ripe old age.