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Wednesday 16 July 2014

J is for ... juicy July ...

Emi and I have come home to visit my parents in Ulster, where he's getting a first class education in the fine art of foraging for raspberries. They grow wild in the forests over here: lovely, sweet, succulent raspberries.

I have so many, happy memories from my own childhood of long country walks with my parents and our family dogs, gathering wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, crab apples, sloes, hazel nuts, rose hips and wild garlic, depending on what was in season. It was always special. Sometimes we'd eat them as we went along, our conversation pausing and lapsing into silence as we concentrated on the job in hand. Other times we'd bring them home in plastic bags to make jams and pies and cordials.

And now, when I come back with Emi, my eight year-old son, it's really special to go for those same walks with my parents and the family dogs and return to the old, familiar rituals of my childhood. Although now everything is fresh and exciting, the colours more vivid, as I get to re-replay the tape and see the images anew through the eyes of my son.


Grandma and Grandpa, as they've now become, have a treasury of knowledge to impart. Time has marched on and they've graduated into wise, old country folk, who've spent their lives in thrall to the beautiful, natural world around them, and Emi, for his part, is keen to learn about it all. Slowly, slowly I can see the wheel turning and this young boy being gently led by his seniors to appreciate and respect the wonders of Mother Nature. It's a work in progress that's built gradually over the course of the years, one new revelation at a time, each day another thing to point out and marvel at.


Yesterday he learnt where to find the very best raspberries in the forest. He learnt that they weren't always red: Grandma knew where the special yellow raspberries grew. Each little detail, of itself, may seem insignificant, prosaic even, but the accumulation of these little bits of country lore over the course of a childhood will build up into a treasury of knowledge that will connect with the past as it stretches back up the generations in a hand-chain of shared experience, that's been passed on parent, or grandparent, to child since the dawn of time.


And the seasons will roll on through the years to come until one day in the future, maybe 60 years from now, maybe sooner, maybe later, another little old man will take his grandchildren for a walk in the forest. He'll tell them all about the raspberries, and where to find the special yellow ones. My parents and I will be long gone, memories and dust in the wind, but our influence will live on and Emi, the little old man of the future, will be busy forming his own unique link in that great hand-chain. 

So here's to raspberries in juicy July, and the very special magic of grandparents.

All the best, 

Bonny x

As shared on the Alphabet Project


17 comments:

  1. Look at all those raspberries! We used to go blackberry picking all the time, I haven't seen many round where we live though. Grandparents truly are full of knowledge, it's good to hear your son is soaking it up. #alphabetphoto

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    1. I think there's going to be a bumper crop of blackberries in the autumn. It seems to be a great year for fruit generally. All the best, Bonny

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  2. This is a very sweet post (with lovely photos). Emi is very lucky. A lot of children these days don't have the opportunity to connect with and learn to respect nature.

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    1. Thank you, Christa. It's a real pity that so many children don't get to connect. I think the world would be a happier place if they did. Thanks for stopping by. All the best, Bonny

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  3. Such sweet post! Simple things like this, simple walks are so precious! They will someday be a part of your banks of good memories! Thanks for sharing. #alphabetphoto

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    1. Thank you. Yes, you're right, sometimes these simple pleasures make the most valuable memories of all. Thanks for stopping by. All the best, Bonny.

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  4. Yum! That sounds like a wonderful adventure with memories to treasure. I remember picking brambles in my grandparent's back garden and it was always such fun.

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    1. Thank you. Yes, you're right: it's amazing how much fun we can have picking wild food. Maybe It has some distant resonance with our ancestors' careers as ancient hunter-gatherers. All the best, Bonny

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  5. What a lovely post. A lovely opportunity for your son to connect with nature and with an older generation two things that are so often missing from children's lives.

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    1. Thank you. Yes, you're right, the connections with nature and with grandparents are really important. All the best, Bonny

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  6. I really love this post, such a wonderful thing to pass on these moments to our children x #alphabetphoto

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    1. Thank you, Sara. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for stopping by. All the best, Bonny

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  7. It is lovely when they learn things from their grandparents that might be lost otherwise. Those raspberries look gorgeous

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    1. Yes, indeed, Alison. The raspberries were delicious, and we had the added fun of picking them. Thanks for stopping by. All the best, Bonny

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  8. That's so lovely and very special. I have the same thing with my son and my Dad with insects #alphabetphoto

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    1. Thank you, Mary. It's lovely that your Dad and son have got their own special shared interest. All the best, Bonny

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  9. Such a lovely post Bonny and look at all those raspberries! What a treat for Emi and your dad too, thank you so much for sharing with #alphabetphoto

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