The Reboot Of Boont Berry May 2024 With Burt, Celia, Kevin

Just because I'm authoring this narrative, please don't expect I will tell you what the Reboot (found in the subject line above) is all about. It is not to be found here. I have no idea, but previously when I said to the group at Boont Berry store in Boonville that I was thinking of doing an article about Burt and others at Boont Berry; as there is a general interest in how this quiet repository of healthy foods and people manifests. 

Then someone said it would be timely to do so as they were planning a “May (next month) Reboot of Boont Berry.” That phrase, when it was spoken, came with much energy and that's where we left it. So if this article generates more excitement among others contemplating a ReBoot) I will join you in finding interesting answers.

The people who come to Boont Berry form an interesting mix. The students and some teachers come from the high school; others left over from the 60s. (Those of us who were supposed to form a “new age.”) And a general potpourri of townspeople and tourists passing through.

Answers that reflect or perhaps open one to reflections upon what Boont Berry, its staff and customers (commingled as a group) have in common is not actively hidden. But there is perhaps a little known coherence regarding aspects of this gathering that results in a comfort zone — a personal other quiet unspoken acceptance. Perhaps it is not entirely unlike what the four little hamlets of Anderson Valley share (Yorkville, Boonville, Philo, and Navarro) in that we have a commonality of nature’s beauty surrounding us having enjoyed an abundant outpouring of water with the warm sun now becoming more evident.

Boont Berry is primarily but not entirely Anderson Valley's quiet version of a Green Grocery with readymade or to be made components for a creative cook's needs. Uptown the Boonville Hotel, Lauren's Restaurant and a few blocks more including Mosswood, The Farm Mercantile House, Rossi's Hardware, the Fairgrounds, the Vets Building and Senior Citizens eatery (to name a few) all provide a visibility that is easy to see when you walk by or walk in. 

Presencing at Boont Berry is more of a discovery, not immediately to be seen as to what it's about, as there are ephemeral qualities found there. The other places (like the Post Office) the presence offered is evident before walking in. And as I spend many hours at Mosswood the atmosphere is bright and airy with many pleasant exchanges sometimes simultaneously occurring. There are also quiet times which offer the opportunity to prepare for the next gaggle of folks coming in.

Personally, there are times, “What's Next”(as taken from the title of this writing series) changes as frequently as do trips to town. And at Boont Berry, somehow examining the little packets of chocolate, fruits and nuts or sitting for a spell off in a corner with something to eat, drink or read brings me back to a blending flow and helps me find what I call the caring nature of presence (whether in conversations or not) with those mentioned above in the subject line.

More about the little bags filled with various fruits, nuts just mentioned and seen when you walk into Boont Berry. They draw my interest which really does require a bit of introspection like: if I take this home how will I use it or like green grocers elsewhere what healing energies does this offer? Then the people mentioned above and other browsers examining the commodities who might or might not invite a brief exchange bring the word duration to my heartmind, as used in the I Ching (32)- “union as an enduring condition.” 

Perhaps that describes Burt as fully as it describes Boont Berry. He is always busy and open to providing information and willing to participate in brief conversations which helps to maintain a quiet unity.

For years Burt provided us with a Valley New Year's Party but as my grandmother said countless times “circumstances alter cases.” Perhaps for this new year's eve it will happen. Some of us helped a lot or a little to make it happen. 

And another social note: Kevin regularly performs at our variety shows. A final note regarding Boont Berry, the state of being at ease is what describes all who work at BoontBerry; and most of all with us who are its customers.

Perhaps the above narrative may seem somewhat meditative, but that doesn't say it. It seems as though Burt and Kevin have been there ever since we arrived in the valley some 50 years ago But that can't be right. Duration is not simply a linear unfolding of the essence of time. There is a subtle enduring quality of wholeness which is quite comforting.

So as I mentioned before, I can't imagine “Rebooting Boont Berry.” Perhaps everything I've written may be reflective of past decades of past living, as a history of Boont Berry. So the month of May will soon be upon us and as Rumi noted, “What will be will be,” or more currently we will find the new manifestations of Boont Berry.