{"id":2111,"date":"2014-10-23T23:15:51","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T03:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2111"},"modified":"2014-10-24T00:07:06","modified_gmt":"2014-10-24T04:07:06","slug":"berry-interesting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=2111","title":{"rendered":"Berry interesting…."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"berry\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When I was a kid, we had a few bushes around the neighborhood, here and there.\u00a0 They had some red “berries” on them.<\/p>\n

We were warned not to eat those “red berries” because they were poisonous, and they would kill us.<\/p>\n

Well, Sweet Calamari.<\/p>\n

I sure as heck didn’t jerk around with those directives from my parents.
\nI mean…. when someone lays down the law for you…. some “rules” seem to have a little more stringency than other.\u00a0 It just kind of goes that way.<\/p>\n

For instance:\u00a0 “Polly, I don’t want you riding your bike up to to the Sandusky Playground.\u00a0 You can go to the Mercy Playground…\u00a0\u00a0 but not Sandusky Park.
\nWelllllllllll…..\u00a0\u00a0 Sandusky was slightly closer.\u00a0 They had one of those big whirl-around things that made you dizzy.\u00a0 So…. I still rode my bike there from time to time and played.<\/p>\n

BUT.\u00a0 But. But. But.\u00a0 When someone tells you not to eat the red berries because you will fall down dead on the spot…. I follow that order to the letter.\u00a0\u00a0 And all the chatter was right.\u00a0\u00a0 I had… in fact …. NEVER seen a squirrel or a bunny eat those berries.<\/p>\n

So.\u00a0 There you have it.\u00a0 Was it true?\u00a0 Would nibbling on one of those little red round orbs put me six feet under?\u00a0 I have absolutely no idea… but I always wondered if it was a truth.\u00a0 I don’t even know what kind of ever-greenish bush it was…. not to this day.\u00a0 Nevertheless… I was very afraid to even test the waters.<\/p>\n

But it doesn’t end there.\u00a0\u00a0 Here is the deal.\u00a0 Every time I see a bush with red berries, I make sure I stay very, very clear of that bush.\u00a0 I’m 50 years old, and I still have the “Horrible and Deadly Red Berry Bush Fear.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So tonight.. .RIGHT NOW… I am going to go see if I can find the bush.
\nGive me just a second…..<\/p>\n

….. …… ……………… ….
\n………………. ……………………….
\n……..\u00a0 Well HOLY SHIT.\u00a0 Mom and Dad weren’t jerking me around. I found the bush.\u00a0 And that berry.
\nAs it turns out… it is …. YEW [Taxus baccata]:\u00a0 It reads:
\nRegarded as one of THE most poisonous and deadly plant materials around the scarlet berries of yew contain a slightly sugary gloop surrounding the seed and which can be extracted by VERY GENTLY squeezing the berry. The inner brown-black seed is deadly poisonous and must not be eaten.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dag nab it!<\/p>\n

You know, looking back… when I was about 8…..\u00a0 I dared Marky Brenton to eat one.\u00a0 Marky when to the Sandusky School, coincidentally.\u00a0\u00a0 But after I challenged him….\u00a0 well…. you see……\u00a0\u00a0 I never saw that kid again.\u00a0 I thought the family just moved out of the neighborhood… but… but…\u00a0 well now I am feeling quite bad about the whole deal.<\/p>\n

Terrible. In fact.<\/p>\n

Okay.\u00a0 If any knows Marky Brenton on Facebook, can you PM me?<\/p>\n

I guess my lesson here is this.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it is important to trust people.\u00a0 There are occasions in life when someone may know better than me.\u00a0 And in that moment, I have to trust their advice, their directive, their guidance.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have to believe they have my best interest in mind.\u00a0 Because they love and care about me.<\/p>\n

But trust is a thing that seems to be earned.\u00a0 We trust those WE love and care about… probably more than any Joe on the street.
\nIt is a tricky thing in life, when to trust, and when to doubt.\u00a0 That’s all I have to say about that.<\/p>\n

However, when it comes to red berries… it is probably best if you play it safe… rather than sorry.\u00a0 I’m dead serious on this one.<\/p>\n

Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks.\u00a0 — Isaac Watts<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was a kid, we had a few bushes around the neighborhood, here and there.\u00a0 They had some red “berries” on them. We were warned not to eat those “red berries” because they were poisonous, and they would kill us. Well, Sweet Calamari. I sure as heck didn’t jerk around with those directives from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nowyouseeit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2111"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2118,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2111\/revisions\/2118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}