A Time to be Grateful
2020 has certainly been a challenge on so many levels. More than ever I have been grateful for nature. It has been a place of safety for me and luckily my job allows me to bask in it daily. I hope, you too, have found safety in something you love or maybe a new-found gratitude.
Maybe an unexpected color or sight. A pleasant fragrance. Or even the pleasing touch of something unnoticed before. Less rushing from place to place has reawakened my senses.
I spent the last couple of days harvesting for pick up this week before the temps got too cold. Most of the time I worked quietly listening to the birds and the breeze; watching bright oak leaves skip across the soil. The light was glorious, low and direct, the plants' leaves were shining, beaming, happy.
Some of the time I listened to a podcast called "ologies" about cucurbitoligy (the study of pumpkins). It was a fun podcast where the host interviewed this sweet 75 year old woman who was a cucurbitologist. She loved pumpkins and truly thought they were magical, her joy for them rubbed off on me. I learned two things 1) that historically pumpkins were often dried and turned into flour and 2) that pumpkins are a berry not a vegetable. I mean, I am a Botanist by schooling and I knew they are a fruit not a vegetable, but I forgot they technically a berry. (If you start to go down that road, it gets mind boggling what we call berries aren't really berries and what we call vegetables are mostly fruits.) In any case, I was reminded of the uniqueness of pumpkins and their varieties and how beneficial they are to us as food, medicinal properties and a little magic.
Although this Thanksgiving may look quite a bit different for you than usual, I hope some magical gratitude finds it way to you in unexpected ways.
Blessings on your meal,
Keena
