When I got home from work the other day I saw Nancy busy at work in the garden. She had on her sun hat and her well soiled gardening gloves and she seemed oblivious to my presence when I uttered the usual, “hey Nan! “ She looked up slowly with less enthusiasm than I had hoped for and she told me straight away, “I have bad news”. Ruh-ro, I thought. What could it be? Someone die? Has our fridge gone on the blitz again? Did we run out of marshmallows? Maybe our neighbors sold their property to developers of low income housing with a grant from the federal government. Who knew? When I finally dragged it out of her, she fessed up. “Something got at our blueberries”, she muttered, hardly able to contain herself. I didn’t want to let on, but truth be told I was relieved to know that it wasn’t something more serious. Maybe we’ll just call it a season with those darn bushes and be done with it. Let all of god’s creatures at the bushes when the berries ripen and we will be rewarded in the coming years for our selflessness. It will be our way of giving back this year. Can’t deduct it on the taxes but, at least for me, I won’t stay awake all night wondering who might be pecking at my bushes when the morning breaks. With everything else going on this year, it may be a welcome distraction come berry season next year when things aren’t nearly as crazy.

I have to say, we had a mighty nice bike ride today. We wanted to stretch our collective legs and head down to Hampton Beach on our bikes but Nan didn’t think she could do that kind of ride. Not today anyway. I followed her lead under a diffuse sun and with a refreshing ocean breeze at our back we headed off the boulevard and down the back roads here in town. With all the twists and turns, I wasn’t able to find my rhythm and that wasn’t a good thing. It made me irritable, in fact, but I kept my mood in check and the small talk to a minimum where possible. We got an early start so the ride back home was less difficult than usual since the beach goers had barely just begun to park along the bike path. It only takes one door to open while you’re riding by to make for a bad day. I always keep one hand on my hand brake and rarely take my eyes off the road in front of me while straddling the path along Ocean Boulevard. It’s the ones sitting in the cars waiting for unsuspecting bikers that I worry about. My response is always the same when I see them twisting and turning in the back seat in gleeful anticipation and pretending not to notice that the biker is practically upon them. Load tubes two and four. Have a nice day.