One of my favorite fruits, the simple cherry – yet luxuriously rich with succulent sweet juices entrenched within the soft burgundy colored flesh confined beneath its slightly taught skin – is a harbinger of summer. Along with the huge cardboard cartons of watermelons that seem to be omnipresent in supermarkets beginning around Memorial Day, displays of sweet cherries are a welcome sight in the produce department, replacing the displays of citrus that have held court over the winter months and past the vernal equinox. Do you remember the mountain of cherries, unrestrained by plastic bags, lying with loose abandon on the display counter? It’s been a while, right? Nowadays they are found in ziplock bags, with a sign nearby.
Well, there’s a reason for the plastic bags and the attendant signage. Believe me, I know from personal experience!
Several years ago, during a trip to the supermarket, I had a close encounter with my favorite fruit. Wearing flip flops can be a hazard in the produce department, especially when an errant cherry finds itself on the floor. There’s nothing like the sensation of stepping on said cherry with its incredibly slippery pit and landing flat on one’s back after hitting one’s head on the sharply angled metallic edge of the display shelf. Along with feeling incredibly embarrassed, the results include a scalp laceration, a trip to the emergency department in an ambulance and a hell of a headache for a couple of days!
So what’s the point of this little parable? Don’t wear flip flops in a grocery store? Beware of vicious small fruits? Well, maybe flip flops aren’t the safest footwear off the beach, but perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from this freak “accident”.
We tend to stride through life, not really paying attention to the details of our surroundings, unaware of the possible dangers to our well being, whether physical, emotional or spiritual. But in addition to being incognizant to perils, we also are oblivious to the little things that can bring us joy. That pesky little cherry of many years past resulted in a sutured scalp, but it certainly continues to be an amusing anecdote of how I was taken down by a cherry pit. Heaven knows, my kids thought it was hilarious. And yet I still look forward to the joys of eating my favorite fruit every summer.
Walking the Camino this past summer, we strolled under numerous cherry trees with their pits strewn along the path. It brought back (un)pleasant memories as I walked prudently, not wishing to re-experience my cherry pit episode of many years past. Other perils were also encountered along the Way – slippery gravel, crazy Spanish drivers, steep rocky ascents, narrow stone bridges, herds of cattle, and innumerable cow patties!
(Yes, the photo above is photographic evidence of the most common/aromatic obstruction on the Camino.)
We stepped carefully, using our trekking poles with every carefully planted footfall, steadying our bodies, maintaining our balance and avoiding potentially disastrous tumbles on the trail. Attentive to each step, we avoided physical injury. There was no rushing along, no schedule to keep, no race to the finish. Truly in the moment, we also started to really pay attention to the little joys around us- the wild strawberries and lovely wildflowers on the wayside, the slugs crawling across the path, the sounds of nature, the plethora of cows grazing on the mountaintops on the way to O Cebreiro!
Despite our blistered feet, sore muscles, woefully out-of-shape bodies, and occasional misstep into some cow poop, we began to appreciate the majesty of God’s handiwork. And then there was the sense of accomplishment at the end of each day’s 10 or 12 or 15 mile trek – the rewards of perseverance and determination! We actually completed each day’s stage without spraining an ankle or taking a header into the brush! The reward of a cold beer and some tapas at the end of the day was infinitely better than a gourmet meal at a three-Michelin-star restaurant!
So be attentive- watch your step, be aware of the world around you, don’t be in such a rush- so you don’t get tripped up by a stray cherry pit and end up flat on your back. But don’t let the potential perils of life take away from enjoying all the “little things” that bring so much joy!
Camino Musings 
How have I never heard the story of Kathy ~v~ Cherry Pit before?
It does my heart good to read your blog, Kath. You’re so right about how we often rush by all the beauty that surrounds us every day. I’ve always thought that I was a relatively laid back person. Silly me! I had a counselor once, a minister, actually, who used to talk about us too often acting as human doings instead of human beings. It’s an insidious peril in this country, I think. We value only relentless achievement of one kind or another. Not me, baby….I’m hopping off that damn hamster wheel!
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