Gifts

Spring green: moss growing on a log in the woods

This was a weekend of finding and sharing gifts. Richard and I wandered through the woods this morning, celebrating signs of spring growth and more evidence that the pileated woodpeckers (one breeding pair, more?) are here and apparently thriving.

Another pileated woodpecker hole

During these walks, Richard checks on the growth of the hickories, cherries and other trees that he is coming to know well. He points out to me those that have died, which he plans to turn into next winter's heating wood, and the live ones to be culled (also destined for heating wood) so that others nearby can flourish.

Fungi growing on a log

It is easy during these walks to be aware that we are part of a larger system, and that our health and well-being depends on its health and well-being. Food, heat, clothing, shelter -- all take time and labor to produce. But mostly, in our society, that time and labor is generally invisible to those of us who merely consume these products. That leaves us without the information that could help us more easily make sustainable choices about what and how much to consume. As I watch the time it takes for a tree to grow, and see the labor it takes to fell and split the wood, It is easier to remember what is required to enable us to warm the house in the coldest months. It is no longer invisible or taken for granted.

Last year's logs stocked to dry for next winter's heat.

So, too, with the growing of food. There is a different appreciation when I sit to eat a plate of braised greens that I've tended and helped to grow. There is abundance in our yard, but it is not abundance that I am drawn to overeat. That is reserved for products I merely consume, where the time, labor and "inputs" required to produce them remains invisible to me.

The food we produce ourselves seems to me always a gift, and like all gifts, it easiest to enjoy in moderate amounts, and when it is shared with others. By now, the hoop house salad greens are growing faster than we can eat them. Yesterday, I prepared a large salad to take to my synagogue yesterday for Shabbat lunch. This afternoon, I picked more of the hoop house bounty and walked up the road, dropping off bags of early spring salad greens with the neighbors. A chance to say "hello" and share these gifts.