Whenever I want to, I walk behind my house and pick a little round berry that's blue as the Mediterranean at sunset and deliciously packed with almost all the beneficial compounds nature offers. I put the berry in my mouth and bite, feeling the skin pop into an explosion of sweet-sour juices on my tongue. Ahh, I think. I am becoming healthier. I pick a second berry and feel the antioxidants racing through my body, soothing my inflammation. Now every organ and cell in my body is open and ready to receive. Rather than pick the third berry by itself I find a ripened cluster and milk it into my palm, shoving four, five or six berries into my mouth at once. I smile again. Ahh, I think. Did George Bernard Shaw say that the true joy in life is being used for a purpose? Yet what would life be without blueberries?
I have blueberries in my life because of my dad. He has spent hours mowing, weeding, pruning and nurturing the blueberry patch for the last few years. When I moved here in Octover, he mentioned that he was looking forward to having my help in the blueberry patch. I said I would definitely help, but unfortunately, like the second son in the parable (Matthew 21), I really didn't. I have only been able to help him once due to circumstances and scheduling conflicts.
I pruned about half a row five or six months ago; that's all. Even so, I (and other people) are receiving full benefits. Depending on how many I manage to pick, I can eat blueberries for breakfast, lunch and dinner and all the snacks in between. Whenever I have energy, I gather them up like manna on a Friday, filling my fridge with blueberries in containers and my freezer with blueberries in plastic bags.
I remember how although there were many delicious fruits in the shuk on Jaffa street, blueberries were very expensive and hard to get. Of course many people can't afford to eat blueberries every day like I can. I wish I was able to send them in the mail to those I love and share them with everyone who needs. Unfortunately, I can't.
I can only send the idea of blueberries, blueberries in their Platonic form. Let me send some to you. I'll call them "spiritual blueberries" that they might encourage any of you in the right climate who has time or space to try growing a few bushes. Forget about going to Innisfree to plant beans. Try planting blueberries in your back yard.
Not only are fresh blueberries delicious and pleasing to all the senses, each blueberry contains flavonoids that protect brains, anthocyanins that reduce blood pressure and improve blood vessel function...the list goes on. Wouldn't the world become a better place if everyone could eat as many blueberries as I do? Imagine if policymakers and heads of state around the world would all eat some blueberries every day...
Breakfast is one of the best times to eat blueberries. Often, I mix up my own special recipe of overnight oats (with blueberries) and leave them in the fridge overnight, then get it out at 6:30 a.m to eat while listening to an audiobook. I've tried eating it while reading a physical book, but I always end up getting stains on the pages. Whenever I eat this delicious breakfast, I walk around all morning feeling renewed and joyous. I feel like an Olympic athlete, surprised to see that my muscles have not become chiseled into brawny symmetry of their own accord. This may be because, as my mom sometimes comments when I don't add enough milk, my oats are reminiscent of horse food. But I think it's the blueberries.
Here is the recipe:
Recipe: Esther's Energizing Elixir
- ½ cup of Bob's Red Mill certified gluten free oats
- 1 apple, peeled and grated on top of the oats
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds (Optional: I don't always have them around.)
- ½ cup blueberries if possible (When supplies are low, I just use ten or fifteen.)
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 cup milk
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