Huckleberries basis of family bonds

Pat (Randall) Cassel, a retired Spokane teacher, has relocated to the guava groves of Hawaii, but she wrote to remind us that there’s something rich about huckleberries and the family tradition.

“Going ‘picking’ was an eagerly awaited activity every summer for our family. Baby sister was given a branch to munch from while the rest picked. Big competition among us to have the second most berries in our buckets. Dad always got first place; he was unbeatable.

“One summer my restless little sister started marching around waving her de-berried branch chanting ‘booga-booga.’

“When asked what she was doing she gave us an imperious look and announced that she was keeping the bears away.”

Cassel recalls the annual family campout at Marshall Lake coincided with the peak of berry season.

“Mom set up an assembly line of pans, got the Coleman stove going and sterilized her canning jars. One sister did the first berry rinse, picking out stems, leaves and bugs. Next sister did second rinse, mom packed the jars. We had our huckleberry pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

“No holiday at our house was complete without a huckleberry pie.”

Inspired by those memories, Cassel sent several haikus, concluding with:

Climbing up steep slopes

Lured by purple promises

Ah! perfection found

Little sister’s job

Chant to scare away the bears

We fill the buckets

Essence of summer

Packed into a purple sphere

Huckleberry bliss