Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Mush...

Yes, mush.
[Let this tale serve as a parental public service announcement: Don't let this happen to you. ]

The backstory....
Last week, amidst the cavalcade of outdoor field-trips that characterize the next-to-the-last week of kindergarten, one outing in particular featured a shade-providing (not too unwelcome in 90 degree+ heat) mulberry tree. As kids are wont to do, collecting fruit from the oversized "bush" in emptied water bottles proved to be quite the exciting activity.

On the homefront, in summers past, Sarah and Darren have delighted in creating what they've dubbed "bird soup" -- a melange of what to their view must be delicacies to our avian friends. Leaves, flower petals, and quarts of water comprise the basic foundation for the birdie broth. With their dark fuschia color and their multi-bumped, seedy texture, Sarah was determined to fill and seal her berry-filled bottle (after adding a bit of H20 and shaking it up a bit, who could resist that?) and bring it home for a new strain of bird soup. Darren was on board 100%.

Temperatures and activities for this weekend soared. The chance to mix up a batch of bird chowder didn't occur 'til early last night.

Out we went. Heat was no deterrent; and the kids enthusiastically mixed up a good base of grass, leaves and water. (Darren "seasoned" it with some spritzes of special water.)

At just the right moment, Darren and Sarah indicated it was time to add the mulberry mush. A slight turn of the bottle's cap resulted in a sinister hiss....and a rising level of liquid within the container. Sarah quickly relinquished the source to my hands, and within seconds...POW!


Explosive. Both the bottle, and the laughter of our twosome upon seeing Mommy spattered in sludge. The moral of the story? Fear the fury (and the aroma) of fermenting mulberries.

[*Special thanks to Darren for the photo of messy Mama]