…The spirit of adventure 
runs through my veins
with the rich color
of crushed raspberry
May it always run so free
may it be blessed
and may I be reminded
of the courage and love
shown in small, wild adventures.
June brings out the hunter in me. The mission: wild raspberries.* A friend once laughed to hear me describe picking raspberries as a "holy task," but it is. A task earthy, embodied, mundane, and miraculous at once.
Two of June's treasures each year for me are the roses and the raspberries. This week, I sweated and struggled and was scratched and stung, but I returned home once again with my bounty.
Last year I wrote about my “Inanna’s descent” as I picked wild raspberries with my children:
…I was thinking about how I was hot, tired, sweaty, sore, scratched, bloody, worn, and stained from what “should” have been a simple, fun little outing with my children and the above prayer came to my lips. I felt inspired by the idea that parenting involves uncountable numbers of small, wild adventures. I was no longer “just” a mom trying to find raspberries with her kids, I was a raspberry warrior. I braved brambles, swallowed irritations, battled bugs, sweated, swore, argued, struggled, crawled into scary spaces and over rough terrain, lost possessions and let go of the need to find them, and served as a rescuer of others. I gave my blood and body over to the task…
I consider any berry picking expedition to be the very definition of success as long as there are enough berries to make a cobbler! It is so delicious I feel like sharing my version here, in case any of you would also like to enjoy one with your family during berry season (modified from this recipe).
Ingredients:
1 stick butter 
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 ts. salt
1 ts. baking powder
1 cup milk
2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)
Instructions:
Melt butter. Mix sugar and flour into the same baking dish in which you plan to bake the cobbler. Whisk in milk. Pour in melted butter and whisk again.
Scatter rinsed raspberries evenly over the top of the batter.
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 1 hour until golden and bubbly.
Serve with whipped cream on top if desired, though plain is delightfully delicious as well!
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While in the woods with my raspberries this year, I also finished taking pictures for my upcoming Womanrunes e-course:
"Revolution keeps a steady tempo with your heartsong and the color of your wings."
Sometimes revolution tastes like raspberries.
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(*ETA: Yes, wild raspberries are black in Missouri. We have wild blackberries also, which will ripen in July.)