NEAR ST. HELENS, Ore. — It's a hot September afternoon as I set off running past farm fields into the woods on Sauvie Island, which lies at the meeting of the Columbia and Willamette rivers.

It's a perfect trail for running with 60-year-old knees, the forest floor soft with leaves and pine needles. The gentle path offers views of the vast Columbia River.

After a day of work, I love finding places like this, where I can turn off my brain and just move and breathe. On this day, I stumble across an unexpected delight: blackberry thickets so dense I have to dodge the thorns as I run.

The fruit is perfectly ripe, berries hanging thick and dark. I pick and eat, then run a little, but again and again the berries tempt me to slow down and snack.

Brian Mann / NPR / NPR

Finally I run on, my

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