Blackberry Winter

…The name of an award-winning band featured on the movie “Winter’s Bone.” 

…A term used to describe a brief period of cold weather that coincides with the time the blackberries are in  bloom.  (from DavesGarden.com)

…A reality here in the Ozarks. 

I spent an hour and a half Sunday morning picking blackberries.  The warm sun, the sweet and lush smell of honeysuckle, the companionship of obese bumblebees drunk on nectar and the plentitude of purple-black berries transported me to another time and place.  I felt like a young girl again, riding my bicycle with my brothers, a garbage bag tied to my handlebar, off in search of summer’s best fruit.  The culmination of a day’s work was Mom’s blackberry cobbler, topped with crunchy pastry and melting vanilla ice cream.  Bliss.  Blessing. 

I don’t remember ever being hot during those blackberry summer days.  I do remember ticks and scratches and poison ivy.  And the sting of a bath afterwards.  But blackberry cobbler and eating one’s fill of berries were the memories worth remembering. 

As I picked, I prayed.  I counted my blessings.  I looked into the bowl from time to time to see the bounty incrementally increase.  I considered what type of crust I would make.  I thought about the pleasure on my family’s face as they took their first bite of the first blackberry cobbler of this year. 

Bliss.  Blessing.  Bounty. 

Thanks be to God.