How is wealth defined? My daughter thinks we are wealthy because we have savings. Half the world would consider all Americans wealthy from the way we live. A banker might say that wealth is security, but is there real security when war is possible and we all mostly die within a century of our birth?

I felt wealthy this weekend. I have never been impoverished though there were some times in my youth when loneliness made me feel empty. Still, I was more unhappy than impoverished. I certainly did not feel poor as a boy when I could snorkel along the Florida beaches and camp in the pinewoods and Everglades, even though the family budget allowed no high-class entertainment or recreation. I felt wealthy as a young man in love with a job and a new family, even when our balance sheet was in the red.

Today the balance sheet is positive, but that had little to do with this last marvelous and wealthy Sunday. We left Dills Cove in Sylva early and drove the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Shining Rock trailhead. Our plan was to pretend to be forty-niner’s and summit five 6,000 footers in one day. In the end we topped only four of them, Black Balsam, Tennent Mountain, Grassy Cove Top, and Shining Rock Mountain itself. Sams Knob will have to wait for another day.

I could blame the failure on our old bones, on the thunderstorm, or on birds and fellow hikers, each of which occupied some of our time. Mostly, however, the cause of the failure was blueberries. I hadn’t thought about them. They are finished here in the valley, and I didn’t expect to encounter them at altitude. But there they were. Mid-bush plants wealthy with fruit. We each ate probably a pint, and “berryman” couldn’t let all the rest go. In the end we carried about a gallon off the mountain with us.

Once we decided to pick and pack, we probably spent only an hour at it, but that time together with the many pauses to grab a handful for immediate gratification left us more than an hour short of time to make the last climb.

The thunderstorm only further encouraged us to remain below ridgetop and trudge with soggy feet back toward the car. Even then, walking along a rocky trail on an old forest roadway through the spruce, rhododendrons, and berry thickets was wonderful. The clouds somewhat obscured but also highlighted the surrounding mountains. Our ponchos barely kept us warm – in August in Carolina. I enjoyed the wonderful scenery as I felt my body moving steadily in the walk. I thought how wealthy I was to be sharing this experience with a lovely and steady woman.

This was not expensive entertainment. Our transportation was shanks-mare. No fee for entry into the Shining Rock Wilderness. Though some pain becomes a constant companion by the time you are fifty, working the body keeps the discomfort at bay.

And so we are wealthy to be able to enjoy a walk spiced by sweet fruit across some of the highest land in the East with each other.