When I was a kid, we could go for a walk down a hilly utilities right of way behind our housing development, along a path in the woods, out into a clearing and farm field. The field was ringed with raspberry bushes, and the bushes continued along a creek as well. I don’t remember ever getting permission, but Dad took us there to pick berries in the mid to late summer, and I was as apt to throw mine in my mouth as in the yellow plastic pale we carried. It was then that I learned to love berries: they look like jewels in the summer sun, and their taste straight from the bush is divine. Their texture is unlike anything else, too. Over the years I discovered that blueberries, blackberries and strawberries are equally luscious. These days they’re available year round, imported from distant lands. I love them, and I enjoy them any way they are served. But fresh from the bushes is still my favorite way to eat them!