One can go to the garden a little grumpy or in pain, with a
headache or a resentment—and work one’s self back into peace.
That happened to me yesterday, suddenly, in the rhubarb. Suddenly everything else was just gone and there
I was sitting on the cool earth, enmeshed in the jewel tones of rhubarb,
entranced by the beginning of autumn glimmerings on blueberry leaves, and the
glory of the Jerusalem artichoke's crown of fall flowers. I was suddenly just there, the sweet brisk
fall air tickling my skin. I was just
there with Creation and rhubarb. No more
grumpiness, no more pain, no more headache, no more resentment. I was back into peace.
Our first frost had visited the night before and these lovely
stalks of rhubarb were tugged and twisted loose for the food bank. Each stalk a gift. A gift to me, in their simple beauty. A gift to the food bank, and from there a gift
to the precious people who depend on the food bank, who look to the food bank
for something sweet they would otherwise never have. My thoughts went to these precious people,
some of them elderly, some of them disabled, some of them working long hours
for low pay—supporting our economy and our elite yet not able to make ends
meet. My thought went to these precious
people.
Rhubarb is seldom available in our stores and when it is, it
is very expensive. And here was this
gift, fresh picked, organic, and loved. Grown
with love. Given with love. There certainly is not enough for
everyone. But not everyone loves
rhubarb. Our food bank is very special. Customers get ‘points’ which they spend, they
get to make choices. And for some people
that choice, today, will be rhubarb.
Sometimes rhubarb is more important than tuna fish or eggs. Sometime the memory of the treat made from
grandma’s garden is more nourishing than anything else can be. And for some people, that is the gift that
rhubarb can bring.
In many of our old cultures, our wealth was not counted by
what we hoarded. Our wealth was counted
by what we gave. Creation is the gift to
us, which nurtures us. Before we made up
all this extraneous stuff, before people owned and controlled land, before they
developed monetary systems that impoverished many and enriched few, before all
that, everything we needed was a gift from Nature, from Creation, and the labor
of our own hands.
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| Photo-- Shelia Rickers. Me pulling weeds at Growing Together Community Gardens, completely oblivious to the camera. |
My hands are not as young as they used to be. But there are still a few hours of labor left
in this aging body. I can still weave
myself back in to Creation, back into the garden, and I can still count myself
wealthy as I find that I, and the garden, have something to give.
10.12.16
~~~
If you would like to join us at Growing Together Community Gardens, we have a very few available garden beds; and we always welcome
volunteers.