On Redlands Road just above the Royal Berkshire Hospital, roughly half way between my home and office in Reading, there is a mighty blueberry bush that grows alongside a tall wooden fence. The berries are ripe right now, and the bush is weighed low with this season’s rich offerings. No-one who passes by knows how a blueberry bush looks like, though. Suspicious of something inedible or perhaps even poisonous, they are leaving the entire bush to me.

Addendum (September 1, 2000)

I just saw an Indian or Pakistani fellow pick some kind of fruit from a tree right in the middle of the Forbury Gardens in Reading. I have walked by this particular tree for an entire decade without ever noticing that it bore fruit of any kind. By the way, the fellow was roughly my age.