first lesson in berry picking

Here I am.  

Sitting at the desk in my hotel room.  

I'm eating cold soup from a can.  

Never mind that I am in a city full of food choices and in two days I will be moving to a place with a very limited food supply.  This is what I chose.  

The first day of new teacher orientation was this morning.  It involved a basic introduction and overview.  I am one of four new teachers that will be teaching in the village.  I believe there are thirty or so teachers new to the district.

After we concluded our day of training I went over to Stella's kennel to take her for a walk.  She was very happy to see me.  She kept looking at me and trying to jump into my arms.  We took a nice long walk to REI.  The sun in really intense and all the brightness gave me a headache yesterday.  Rachel was right in that I would need my hat, so in her honor I bought a hat just like the one she has.  

 As previously mentioned, it was very sunny so we took a nice rest in this patch of grass.

I am so very lucky to have a friend who lives here in Anchorage.  Eliza studied fibers with me in Lacoste.  It has been nearly five years since we saw one another last.  I am so grateful to get to spend time with her while in town.  Last night we went out for a delicious dinner and today she invited me to go berry picking.

We drove up a very long dirt road to get the spot.

 The hillside we were picking on had a view of downtown Anchorage, Fire Island and the coast.

 It was magnificent.

 We were after blueberries but these are the little crowberries that were in abundance.

 

I was just in awe of all the tiny vegetation growing on that hill side.  It was thick and spongy to walk through.  In the winter this is a ski slope.

 

 Here are the tiny blue berries we were after.  You can see the wider-leafed blueberries growing just slightly taller than the crowberry plants.  Both Eliza and I are used to picking blueberries from a bush so the small low-lying variety was a new skill for us.

 The best picking was near the top of the hill.  It was great because that also happened to be the best view.  

That small container above represents about two hours of picking and one incredible adventure.  I have much to learn about Alaskan berries, but I am very glad I got to start my education with such a sweet soul.