> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://fable.perfectsky.institute/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # the life of a berry picker - URL: https://fable.perfectsky.institute/the-life-of-a-berry-picker/ - Published: 2026-07-14T21:43:31.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-14T21:43:31.000Z - Author: fable this is going to be all over the place because i have lots of thoughts and lots of new things are happening and not enough time to process it neatly. enjoy <3 --- i have been on this farm for 8 days now! every day i have been picking many berries. hundreds and hundreds of berries. blackberries, gooseberries, currants. i am averaging about 13 thousand steps a day. farm life is wonderful and also challenging. its hot, its hard work. i have an absolutely insane tan going. and by tan i mean i am like twenty shades darker. and every day it continues. while working in the farm i have had to fight for my life against all the insects, but im using it as exposure therapy. i think there is something crawling on me at all times. it is satisfying to see all the fruit youve picked at the end of a shift. i sometimes find myself feeling like a little precious creature in the woods when i brush back the leaves and find glowing berries ready to be picked. you can really get lost in this process and start to feel… different. in a good way. i drove a cool big farm machine. i have no idea what its called. but it has four massive wheels and it goes up and down. it was so sick to drive. you can control the wheels individually so it sometimes felt like a puzzle trying to figure out the angles to get exactly where you want to go. i felt pretty badass riding this thing around. ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/07/IMG_7011.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/07/IMG_7128.jpg) its gorgeous here. the flatness of the netherlands really does have some charm, especially in the countryside. the sunsets are always beautiful– often times the pink lighting from it coats all the farm land like someone threw a paint bucket over the fields. its bright out until like 11pm, which has been very weird– even after the sunsets, which is around 10pm. the birds here sing such special melodies. i don’t think ive really ever heard a bird truly sing until now. there are so many animals around here: ponies, goats, alpacas, cows, sheep, and even a show dog training place. ive also been seeing a few hot air balloons flying over the farm, that has been pretty neat. ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/07/IMG_7017.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/07/IMG_7113.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/07/IMG_6997.jpg) ive been getting to speak some dutch here and there which has been fun. i speak it a lot with the host here who has very quickly become a lovely, close friend of mine, and with some locals when i get the chance. one day, i accompanied a few other volunteers who wanted to go get some eggs from an old couple nearby with a chicken farm. i wasnt getting eggs, but i was joining to translate for them, because apparently this was a pair of really old fashioned dutch people who spoke no english and were not keen on trying any time soon. we actually fully trespassed onto their property because someone said this was the best path to get there from our farm (which involved climbing over some barbed wire and entering their backyard… yea) none of us felt very good about that and indeed the woman said to me, rather kindly, that she would like us to not enter from there again. she sold us lots of eggs and i felt proud to be of help. on another day, i decided to quickly bike to the nearby grocery store on my lunch break, but i didn’t actually remember where the store was and didn’t feel like looking it up on my phone at that point, so i asked, in dutch, these people walking nearby where the store was. i listened so intently to their quick and long-winded directions, and not going to lie i was getting confused, but i got the most important parts: slight right, straight through, then turn left. and sure enough! there it was. i felt very proud in that moment too. in my free time ive been biking to a nearby lake. its great swimming. other fellow volunteers also join. we hang out for a while and talk in and out of the water. deep conversations come often and naturally. also things like playing chess, a card game taught to me by the italians called “scopa”, meditation (when i remember to), and other random stuff. --- i do find myself often overwhelmed with trying to keep up with all these people. ive started isolating myself a little bit more the past couple days because i havent had the energy to give enough attention to the people who want it. im remembering that people are very hard and exhausting for me. while journaling, i used the term “socially claustrophobic” which i think sums it up quite nicely. but i do love hearing peoples stories and making new memories. i think im learning that i really enjoy doing things for other people– obviously it depends, but im finding great fulfillment in helping others here. the other day, i felt as though i reached a state of nirvana while i biked home by myself after swimming in the lake. all that was on my mind was the insanely gorgeous views and the peace of being alone to enjoy them. ive been breathing in this thick feeling of independence like the same strong, warm wind from that very evening. i am halfway through my time at this farm and im already feeling some of the nerves of the changes that will happen soon. suddenly everything and everyone around me will be different. i always feel nervous before change comes but afterwards i feel much better. (if only my brain would recognize this pattern of everything being okay in the end so that i would stop getting nervous in the first place.) --- on friday, we had a pizza party at the farm. we all made our own little pizzas and cooked them over a fire. the vibes were lovely. my friend milan came from amsterdam to join for this before our departure together back to the city for the weekend. there was group dancing, a beautiful sunset, and marshmallows. ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/07/IMG_7021.jpg) over the weekend i had a lovely time in amsterdam hanging out with my dear kaaskop, milan. we had lots of yummy food, both restaurant and home cooked. we went to the theatre and watched a movie, the invite. absolutely incredible movie, 10/10\. it makes you feel everything. its insanely hilarious and also told a brilliant message through a modern and relatable story. then we went to the arcade, won lots of tickets like the absolute chad gamers that we are, and went to this place called doloris anoma maze. this “maze” almost does not feel like it really happened. you are immersed into an entirely new reality. it involved climbing many steep metal ladders and army crawling through tiny doors and air ducts. there were a lot of hidden rooms and environments and so much to explore. it was incredible. i honestly cannot explain this experience well enough, but i highly recommend it to anyone who ever goes to utrecht. as someone who enjoys escapism, this was the coolest thing ever. --- now it is back to working for another week and seeing what i will get up to. i am feeling a bit tired, both physically and mentally. but i think its getting better. there is so much i could say but i think this is quite long already and you get the point! tldr: existensial, socially claustrophic girl sees pretty views and does hard things while working on a farm. see you next week.