Raspberries in Twenty

Last summer was our first in the Pacific Northwest; and while it lasted a mere 7 weeks, I relished it as much as I could.  I was hungry for sunshine, starving in fact, and I spent a lot of time in the berry fields gathering as much nourishment for my body and soul as possible.  I hoped for the same type of experience this summer, but I am starting to worry.

We arrived home from SLC late Saturday night and awoke to gray skies and a light mist on Sunday morning.  I was deflated, but willing to give it a few hours.  I remember living in San Francisco and experiencing foggy mornings and glorious afternoons.  I couldn't help but have the same hopes for our current city as well.  One cannot give up hope...



The next day, Monday, was off to a good start.  As my kids bobbed in the water during swim lessons, I laid back in a chair for a minute or two and just took in the rays of sunshine warming my face.  Oh my how it felt good.  I will never, ever take the blessed sunshine for granted again!

After feeding my kids lunch, I realized we were a bit behind schedule and I was losing my window for naps.  Since it was bright and sunny outside, I decided a spontaneous trip to procure berries was in order.  The kids shouted with glee over the news they were getting out of quiet/naptime and off they went to don their grubbies.  With no time to do research on the best berry farm, etc., I piled the kids in the car and headed one hour north to the only farm with which I was familiar.




We knew the patch closed at 4 and since it was 3:15, we quickly walked towards the barn only to be greeted by someone who said it was too late to berry pick.  After speaking with the manager for a minute and explaining how far we drove, she allowed us to pick only raspberries and gave us a twenty minute time limit.  I set the timer on my phone and dashed into the fields with 4 anxious pickers.  Oh man, I couldn't believe we only had twenty minutes (two hours of driving for 20 minutes of picking doesn't seem like the most economical or advantageous ratio!).  You should've seen us picking those berries.  No time to eat, savor, soak in the heat, wander through the aisles looking for the best bushes or take a trolley ride per usual.  We just filled our baskets as quickly as possible and dreamt of all the wonderful things to be made with our large, ripe, raspberries. 




Somehow we managed to procure 11 pounds of raspberries in just twenty minutes!  It was a miracle and we left feeling satisfied and happy.  We ended the day with homemade pancakes for dinner and early bedtimes.  A good day indeed!