Blueberry Picking Offers A Taste of the Country
Out & About in Greater Tulsa By EMILY RAMSEY
Managing Editor
SUMMERTIME FUN: A family picks blueberries at Thunderbird Berry Farm in Broken Arrow. The berry farm is open weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 7 a.m.-noon, for blueberry picking and to purchase blueberries.
EMILY RAMSEY for GTR Newspapers
Whenever I get the opportunity to spend time in nature, I usually jump at the chance. Being outdoors slows me down, calms me and adds to my gratitude.
Considering my general enjoyment of the outdoors, a strange irony is presented when one witnesses my knee jerk reaction at the moment when nature crosses over and comes too close for my comfort.
As the insects multiply, bushes mysteriously rustle around me and my skin begins to itch, I realize that far from the tough athlete that I imagine myself to be, the great outdoors expose me for the twitching, sniffling weakling that I am.
As a city girl through and through, I know my allergic-like reactions to nature are less than abnormal. I also realize that there are individuals far more averse to nature than I.
Yet, I can’t help but continue to strive to quell my fears. And, fortunately, I have noticed improvements.
Case in point, my recent visit to Thunderbird Berry Farm, 32100 E. 71st St., in Broken Arrow for a morning of blueberry picking, an experience that I expected would at some point put me face to face with some sort of arachnid. Still, I powered on.
I call that progress.
I arrived early enough on a weekday morning in an attempt to avoid a portion of the heat, although the sun began shining early.
As I wandered through the rows of bushes, hearing cows moo in the distance and the happy chatter of children, it’s easy to be steadily lulled into reflection and contemplation.
It wasn’t long before the peace of the scene and the eagerness to find the ripest berries had a city girl sticking her hand far into a blueberry bush, suddenly unconcerned as to what furry crawlers may be hiding inside and hardly noticing the yellow jackets flying nearby.
As I left the berry farm feeling victorious, carrying my six pounds of blueberries, I couldn’t help but feel that I had taken one small step forward in my friendship with the great outdoors.
Updated 08-13-2017
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