a day in the life of a latvian mom

Berries! That’s all I can think about… Berries! Every time I head to the store or the local mini-market, I’m on the lookout for any sign of berries… Berries! Berries! Where are you, my beloved berries?

If I were living in Riga, finding berries would be a breeze. I could simply stroll into any large store and pick up beautifully packaged berries neatly arranged in boxes. But I live in the countryside, where things aren’t so straightforward. My homegrown berries are all gone—currants, white currants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and even bilberries from the forest. Now, my only hope is to stumble upon some berries at the local stores. At this point, the country of origin doesn’t even matter.

Why, in this autumn season, am I still hoping for berries? The berry season is over! Didn’t I eat enough? Why are berries tormenting me!?

I got lucky—there were some blueberries from Spain 250 grams for €3,99… Well, that’s it! I grabbed three boxes and rushed to the checkout and paid € 11,97 and it was just 750 grams…

Then I stopped by the local gardener’s place for tomatoes and cauliflower. Tomatoes are there, cauliflower too… Oh, what’s this!? BERRIES! What kind of berries are these, and what do they taste like? It doesn’t matter! I’ll take all four boxes of these berries—blackberries! Wait, what, do you have more? Seven boxes in total? Fine, I’ll take them all! €10.50… is that it? About 3,5 liters of blackberries!

So, off I went, heading home with boxes of berries! Overjoyed!

Darn it—I forgot the cauliflower and tomatoes!

Ilze