After we pick, we pit.

Door County, Wisconsin, July 1980. It's the second part of the job.

Ha! I remember how much I loved those curtains when Mom sewed them in the 1970s. The fabric featured a Japanese-inspired motif.

It's cherry season.

Door County, Wisconsin, July 1980. Pick your own.

Cherry Season, in Three Takes

*     *     *     *     *

*     *     *     *     *

Door County, Wisconsin, August 1977. Gigi knows the routine.

July Days

Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, July 1959. Mom reported last night that one of the house-search television shows featured an episode focused on the Parry Sound/Georgian Bay region. Mom fondly remembers the beauty of the area, but she can't imagine having a vacation home on a remote island (that led to a short discussion about medical emergencies). Mom noted that when she and Dad stayed in Parry Sound, the closest grocery store was about 10 miles away, and it was a lousy store.

She also fondly recalled the time spent blueberry picking. Mom reminded us that she lost interest in picking after the rattlesnake incident. ("There were snakes there!")

Summer Treat

Door County, Wisconsin, July 1977. Mom finds some wild strawberries close to the cottage.

A Visit from Tatjana

Lake Nipissing, Ontario, Canada, July 1964. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, visits us during our vacation. We take a ride in the dinghy and stop to pick blueberries.

Jackpot!

Glacier National Park, Montana, July 1970. Mom comes across some wild strawberries.

(This must not have been a real hike because I don't remember Mom ever carrying a pocketbook on the trails.)

Late-Season Clingers

Door County, Wisconsin, October 1980. Here's a handful that didn't get picked.

Pick them when you find them.

Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, July 1959. This time, Mom finds some wild strawberries.

We spent another afternoon picking blueberries.

Near Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, July 1959. Mom loved to pick wild blueberries and strawberries wherever she vacationed. She was cautious after the rattlesnake incident.

She was cautious about mushrooms.

Lithuanians—like most Eastern Europeans—like to go picking.

Door County, Wisconsin, August 1977. Gigi helps Mom pick the thimbleberries.

(Thimbleberries are quite invasive.)

Blueberry Picking, with a Collie Dog

Near Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, July 1959. Mom and Dad pick blueberries. This was the summer of the rattlesnake incident.

Pick with caution.

Near Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, August 1959. Dad picks wild blueberries a few days before the rattlesnake incident.

Shared Enterprise

Door County, Wisconsin, July 1979. My Mom loves to pick berries. Here, she and her best friend, Donna, collect wild strawberries in an undeveloped lot adjacent to the cottage.

Find a shady spot.

Door County, Wisconsin, August 1978. Mom, like Dad, enjoys the company of a Collie dog while she picks cherries.

Wild Strawberries, in Three Takes

*     *     *     *     *

*     *     *     *     *

Door County, Wisconsin, June 1978. Take off the jacket if you feel too warm.

Picking

Near Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin, July 1962. I don't recall what caught my attention here, but Mom and I often went picking for blueberries and wild strawberries.

Blueberries, as Decorations

Lake Nipissing, Ontario, Canada, July 1964. My Mom, my paternal Grandmother Tatjana, and I have been blueberry picking, and we are heading back to the cabin in our rented dinghy.

Blueberry Picking

Lake Nipissing, Ontario, Canada, July 1965. My Mom and I pick blueberries along the shore of Lake Nipissing. We encountered no snakes there. It's likely that my Dad anchored our little rented boat so that Mom and I could search for the tasty treasures.

Rattlesnake

The summer after I was born, my Parents left me in the care of my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana. They drove to Canada for an August vacation. Mom and Dad met up with old friends on a lake island. It was a great spot. The cabin was clean, and it was nice to be carefree again.

My Mom and her friend discovered that the island had an abundance of wild, low-growing blueberries. Berry picking became a daily activity. The women gathered the blueberries so that they could make Lithuanian blueberry dumplings, "Šaltanosiai." "Šaltanosiai" means "cold noses" because the dumplings look like blue noses. The dumplings are a summer delicacy, served with sour cream (of course) and granulated sugar. Tatjana used to make them in Suburban Chicago, too. I remember plates of them, freshly boiled, cooling off on the kitchen counter.

The blueberry picking came to a halt one afternoon when the women heard a rustling sound in blueberry bushes. It was a rattlesnake. My Dad killed the rattler. He and the women took several photographs to commemorate the moment.

When I asked my Mom about this episode, she said, "That was the end of the blueberry picking."

Near Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, August 1959. Dad shows the women the rattlesnake. There's the shadow of another photographer in the lower left corner.

*     *     *     *     *

Near Parry Sound, Canada, August 1959. The story of the rattlesnake probably played large in my Dad's memory because it's the only time Dad killed a living thing.