A week ago, we followed the criss crossing back roads of the mountains to a pocket of mountain huckleberries. My Mom visits this spot each year and on one occasion she shared her berry picking session with a bunch of berry engorged black bears.
On this day, my kids were tired of riding in the car and our drive was marred by "He touched me!" and "You started it!"
However, when we reached the berry patch, they were too engrossed in picking and eating berries to fight (much). My son doesn't like cooked fruit so he gathered his berries to savor fresh on the trip home. My daughter complained because she felt he wasn't contributing to our goal of gathering enough huckleberries for a cobbler. She changed her mind on the trip home, as my son shared his bag of berries with her and they plopped the berries one by one into their mouths with berry stained fingers.
As we gathered the berries, the sun receded nearby and the whole patch was bathed in that golden glow of a mountain sunset. It was a short visit but its charm is etched in my memory----the conversations, the singing of songs from long ago, and the wonderful mountain fragrance.
And yes, we had enough berries to enjoy a huckleberry cobbler later that night. We ate it all up too fast for a photo. You'll have to believe me...
