Faded purple stains the page-
the perfect recipe
calls for wild blueberries.
Sweet butter, flour unbleached.
We pack water bottles and baskets,
snacks. Bug spray.
I slap sunscreen on noses, backs of necks.
The hike is hotter and steeper than we remember.
The secret to these muffins:
separate bowls for wet and dry.
A patient hand.
Lyle's Samoyed crashes through the dense bushes--
a white bear with a talent for berries.
He pulls loose lips forward
delicately strips a branch.
His lolling tongue blue before
we have filled even one basket.
The oven slowly pre-heats.
I spray two muffin tins.
The final step one and a half
cups wild blueberries.
The sun climbs higher than we do.
Our hands scratched, fingers, lips stained blue.
The dog is full.
I open the chest freezer
count containers,
carefully pour out what I need.
Stir thirty beats.
Bake at 425 for 35 minutes.
We savor summer one muffin at a time.