Another Sisyphean endeavor:

How to prove, during the late summer, that you're new to the Northwest: "Oooo, blackberries! How wonderfully special! Let's go get some!"

I turned my back on one small patch of blackberries and before you knew it, the patch was crawling up a small tree just beyond our fenced back yard and engulfing it. I spent a good chunk of Saturday hacking back the invader and yanking it out of the tree.

I've pushed the patch back to a thatched wall between my neighbor and myself. I'm too pooped to go on right now. Luckily, very little blood was spilt.