The Magic of Cloudberries

I’ve spent mornings and evenings for a few precious days this summer picking cloudberries. Every time I wandered over the moorlands searching for the golden treasures, I was struck by what I started to call “the magic of cloudberries”.

I don’t know if you’ve ever had the privilege of picking cloudberries so let me give you a few facts. It is a waiting game of patience. They need to be a golden yellow, soft and easily let go of the sepal before you can carefully pick them. Make sure the plant is intact and the berries let go easily. However tempting they look while still red and pretty, you need to leave them. Under no circumstances are you allowed to pick them before they are ripe!

While I wander over the moorlands eagerly searching, I can’t see many. Maybe they are not ripe yet, or maybe there are none where I am looking? Then I slow down and stop to just look around, and all of a sudden it’s like they are almost popping up in front of me. One here and one there. I pick them, turn around, walk back and see more. Then again, one more pops up, and then another, and I am struck by what I call “magic of cloudberries”.

How often do we hastily discard what is right in front of us because we don’t take the time to look properly?

How often do we look without seeing? How often do we hastily discard what is right in front of us because we don’t take the time to look properly? How often do we judge by first eyesight? Or miss opportunities because we don’t have the patience to look until we see?

Walking over the moorlands is a perfect time to think and wonder, reflect and contemplate. Close to nature, feeling the sun on my face, sensing the warm, earthy smell from the ground, appreciating the cooling wind. Feeling how strong my legs are from hours of walking, how fortunate I am to have the time and opportunity to spend time in nature.

I will bring the magic with me, remember to slow down, just be and to look until I see when the days get busier and more demanding.

What about you? What do you need to start seeing? Where might you need to slow down so that you become more aware?