{"id":11494,"date":"2014-08-02T09:51:23","date_gmt":"2014-08-02T13:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/?p=11494"},"modified":"2014-08-02T10:07:45","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T14:07:45","slug":"a-burst-of-raspberry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/2014\/08\/02\/a-burst-of-raspberry\/","title":{"rendered":"A burst of raspberry"},"content":{"rendered":"

What says summer like a raspberry? I mean besides a green canoe with a blond labrador in the bow wearing a red bandana. Or watching kids chase a frisbee while you char something lovely on the grill. Or the quiet lap of water against the dock that holds you and your canvas sling chair up to face a bluebird sky–<\/p>\n

But back to the raspberry–my contemplation of the succulent if bumpy orb was brought to mind this week by a sweet little poem by Erica Jong, “The Raspberries in My Driveway<\/a>,” courtesy of the Writer’s Almanac<\/em>\u00a0on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Photo:<\/a>

Photo: Daveography.ca<\/a>, Creative Commons, some rights reserved<\/p><\/div>\n

The raspberries
\nin my driveway
\nhave always
\nbeen here. . .<\/p>\n

yet
\nI have never
\ntasted them
\nbefore.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a stop-and-smell-the-roses moment for the busy writer, a moment with which I can totally relate.\u00a0She echoes this again near the end.<\/p>\n

The world was always
\nthere before,
\nbut where
\nwas I?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And this moment when “I burst the raspberry upon my tongue” bursts in turn into an great upwelling of optimism.<\/p>\n

if you are so beautiful
\nupon my ready tongue,
\nimagine
\nwhat wonders
\nlie in store
\nfor me!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sweet, sunny, satisfying, if fleeting. A little jewel, a little raspberry of a poem.<\/p>\n

And yet, my own experience is a little different. I have left the raspberries in my own driveway for the birds. Unlike Jong, I have always noticed them there, from the moment of their greening.<\/p>\n

I have taken enough raspberries out of the wild, as a boy, plundering the gardens of my neighbors after depleting my own. Those beside my driveway, if I hoarded every one, might be enough for a pie.<\/p>\n

In my life I have had a thousand raspberry moments. But the birds, whose lives are nearly fleeting as the berries themselves, may only have this one. I can always get another pint from the market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What says summer like a raspberry? I mean besides a green canoe with a blond […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[6128],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11494"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11494"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11502,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11494\/revisions\/11502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}