Yesterday we harvested our lemons and satsumas. These came from two small trees that we nearly gave up on several times.
Our little lemon tree struggled to grow and for three years we could see little improvement. We thought it was dead once and considered digging it up and starting over but we left it due to other things that needed to be done.
Two years later it started growing and produced long wild limbs and took on an odd shape. Then this year to our surprise it produced Lemons that you see here. The satsumas are basically the same story. We just need to be patient because some things just need time.
This started me thinking...
Many people today want instant gratification. In the past we were more realistic with the fact that most things take time because back then it did take more time. We are losing the natural cycle making things by mass producing and urging things to be ready quicker. There is more processed, more genetically modified and fake.
Several years ago I was talking with a friend and he was talking about his father. He told me his father was still farming and still plowing with a mule. While most everyone else was out with their tractors his father was walking behind his mule plowing his field. The man was in his 80's, still farming, still plowing with his mule, still walking his field and I think that speaks volumes if you ponder on it for a moment.
His father had always done it this way and was not about to change. I believe when you walk the earth below your feet in which you are planting and harvesting you know better than anyone the needs of that soil. Many times doing things slowly produces the most quality.
This is Thanksgiving week and we are almost to that day. As the years go by and we get more experienced with our cooking we know the things that need to be done. We have done this before. But our younger generations are not as experienced as we once were not either. We learn by doing, by our success and failures and this is the natural process, this is how things happen naturally.
We cannot make our clothes dry faster, or our water boil quicker. We adjust our schedule and above all we have to be patient and work with the natural rhythms.
No matter what it is that we are doing if we can just find our peaceful place in our mind and know that rushing anything only causes frustration.
Many years past my Father-in-law would go out to the barn just before dawn and start some of the farm chores. He would milk the cows and do some things before breakfast. He did this while my mother-in-law would get the wood burning stove started, make the biscuits, coffee, and cook breakfast. This was their rhythm of doing things.
As we get older we become more experienced in how we do things. We grow and learn by doing and mentor to others that are younger and less experienced. One problem we have now is we do not mentor as our elders once did for us. Our times have changed and people are too busy and do not necessarily want to learn the old ways of doing things. Thus many valuable skills are fading away.
This is the week of Thanksgiving and if we are doing the cooking we need time to do things properly and without rush.
This is not the time to go into debt to prepare a feast. It is time to prepare what we do have and can afford. This celebration is not about how much food we can cook but It is time to gather together to give thanks to God for his Blessings. In the past not just one person or family would have cooked such meals as we cook today. It was a collection and gathering of food from all that came.
One Thanksgiving we had a simple family dish called Pate Chinois.
I did not know how many people would come so I baked several of the Pate casseroles. I could freeze the leftover and nothing would go to waste.
This year we are having Baked Chicken, Cabbage, potatoes, carrot salad, and squash casserole because we are having guests. I am baking a pound cake and a pie for those that come by later. We do not need a turkey to make it Thanksgiving. We are using our better judgement due to expenses with our Katherine's surgery. It is being with friends and family and that is what is important.
The leftover desserts can be sliced and frozen so if we think it through we do not have any waste and this keeps the meal sensible.
We are living our lives going through the straight roads, to the curves and bumps in the road but we are still traveling through time. There is no sense in rushing what little time we have here.
Things are going to happen in our life time that brings us joy and sadness. Most things we cannot control or change so we need to look at life with a different perspective. Being sad and gloomy, anxious and frustrated will only affect our health and effect those we love.
If we can learn to live with the rhythm of life, focus on our home, keep things simple, let things happen naturally we can live a much more peaceful existence.
Grandma Donna
