In September, I took a vacation to Flathead Lake in Montana with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson, Cooper. My son-in-law’s family owns a lake cabin there, so we had lodging and a place to hang out for an entire week. This was my first time to the Big Sky state and it was beaut i ful! I’ve never seen such an endless colorful skyline merge into the mountains like it does there. It was a site to behold and I enjoyed it each morning as I sat on the deck and drunk my morning coffee.

I learned that Montana residents are really big on the health benefits of huckleberry. They are said to contain lots of antioxidants, and help control blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure. You can spot the huckleberry bushes almost anywhere because they thrive on the mountainsides in about four different colors.

It all started with a beverage. My daughter Sydney and I drove to a coffee shop to get drinks and were asked if we wanted huckleberry added to them. I had tea and she had lemonade, so we both opted to give it a try. It was a nice change from my regular drink and with a shot of purple coloring, I was satisfied.

From there, we moved on to huckleberry pancakes, huckleberry pancake syrup, huckleberry pie, huckleberry taffy, huckleberry licorice, huckleberry cheesecake, huckleberry honey, huckleberry popcorn, huckleberry cookies, huckleberry mules, huckleberry gummies, etc. I sound like Forrest Gump talking about shrimp now, so I won’t keep rattling on, except to say that I did go home with some huckleberry jelly that I wish I would have purchased more of.

Doc Holiday is famous for using the term “I’m your huckleberry” in the movie Tombstone. However, the term actually means, “I’m the one you want” or “I’m the right person for the job or task.” I also discovered that this means you’re a lot sweeter than a persimmon.

And how was your week?

AROUND TOWN