Despatches from a mother who started late (and is running to catch up)

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Manna

None of us were expecting to find one of Beanie's snacks growing on the slopes of Ben Lawers. You can miss a lot, not knowing where to look. We discovered that when we spent this weekend in Perthshire, (staying at the wonderful Kiltyrie Farmhouse), and tackled one of Scotland's highest mountains.

Fourteen shimmering miles of loch lay far below us in the valley. The sun had broken through low cloud cover, rain was holding off and we could hear rushing water in the brook that gave Ben Lawers its name; (in Gaelic, Beinn Labhair means Hill of the Loud Stream). We loaded Button (aged one) into a carrier on her father's back, strapped on our walking boots and set off up the path towards the summit of the 1,200-metre massif.

Only a mile into the walk I could feel my pelvis begin to ache. Struggling for breath, I stopped walking, sat down with a thud on the path verge, pulled out my water bottle and began to gulp at it.

"Do you know what these are?" said my husband, pointing to a shrub by the path. The shrub in question had small, boat-shaped leaves, and a speckled look. It was growing so close to the ground, it was almost indistinguishable from the heather, saxifrage, and other plants growing nearby. In many years of hillwalking, I'd never even noticed this plant before. Had we stopped further up the mountain, we would have missed it altogether.

I think I would climb a mountain any day, dodgy pelvis or not, for the pleasure of watching Beanie's joy at picking fruit on a hillside, seeing blueberry juice stain her face purple, knowing she will understand that good things do not always come pre-packaged from supermarkets. Sometimes, in fact, they're right there next to us, waiting for us to notice them, even if we need someone else to point them out.

Posted 16 September 2009 19:46

Beanie Button Fun Holidays Out and about

Comments

iota said:

Full of antioxidants, too.

Sorry about the pelvis. I hope it's getting better as time goes by.

Posted 16 September 2009 21:49

Catriona said:

And wild ones would taste much better too - the commercially grown blueberries here do not taste of anything much.

Posted 16 September 2009 23:08

Helen said:

Iota, everyone likes blueberries, an innocuous sort of fruit.

Catriona, is same here, alas.

Posted 17 September 2009 12:50

hjd said:

Sounds delicious

Posted 17 September 2009 14:49

YLM said:

wild blueberries, bracing air, scenery... sounds marvellous. Currently 40+F in Dubai so I am living an air-conditioned life or submerging myself in the pool, so your post triggered some major nature cravings! More please!

Posted 18 September 2009 20:53

Rob Clack said:

Stumbling across a free snack like that is always great!

Posted 21 September 2009 10:53

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