It's that time of year!

Yesterday I looked out my window towards the lake. Something caught my eye and I had to go rushing out the door. It wasn't anyone in trouble on the water. It wasn't one of my perfect grandchildren doing something wrong. It was a tiny spot of red. In fact it was lots of tiny spots of red.

The raspberry bush outside my window was filled with ripe berries! I ran out to pick a quick handful just to make sure they were as good as last year. Today I knew that raspberries were going to be the subject of my blog. In order to get into the mood, I went out and ate a couple handfuls while the blog was loading. Those of you who don't live near a raspberry bush, eat your heart out.

I like strawberries and blueberries but raspberries are the very best. All winter long I look at them in the grocery store. The price is somewhere between $3 and $4 for 1/2 pint. That's one cup and they don't even taste good.

One day soon I am going to sit down in front of a whole bowl of raspberries. A little sugar will go over them and perhaps some half and half. Once a year I allow myself this treat. It is the time of year when I know my life is truly blessed and I am rich. Another night I will have raspberries over vanilla ice cream before going to bed. Who could ask for anything better?

Most of our raspberries go into jam. Bruce is a great picker and I make the jam. Then we spend all fall and winter giving the jam away. We have friends in Florida who get some. One of them will send me empty jars with "Please refill" notes in them. There is our son and his family in California. Another son and family is in Missouri. Eva's parents are in Connecticut. Oh, and don't forget the neighbor boy who is in his medical residency in Phoenix. There are not very many people who will turn down a jar of wild raspberry jam.

We get to be a little snobby about it. One day my friend, Pat, and I were shopping in a grocery store in Key West. We looked down the aisle at another shopper. I couldn't help but remark, "Look at that poor woman. She has to buy store-bought raspberry jam!"