Tuesday, October 5, 2010

meditation




I'm crossing the yard with slow measured steps; back and forth, back and forth, my eyes cast down. The mornings have been chilly and the grass is cool on my bare feet here in the shade of the pecan trees. My feet are bare because sometimes they see better than my eyes do. The steps that take me into the sun are most welcome because my wardrobe has not caught up with the change of the season and I am dressed for summer. Hard to believe that as recent as week before last I was hugging the shade, doing my best to stay out of the sun.

I've been doing this walk for weeks now, a month, more. Today though, I am carrying two buckets. During the past few days I've been picking up some ripe pecans. These have fallen out of their husks instead of having fallen green and dried out. They are noticeably heavier and land in the bucket with a satisfying thunk. I carry one in the palm of my free hand using it to test ones that I am uncertain of. The bad ones crush at the least pressure. They go in the other bucket, nearly full after two days. I had been picking up two buckets full every day. Still, there seems to be quite a few pecans up in the trees so I'm more hopeful of getting some good ones this year.

Pecans are a lot of work and have a high cost in time and effort. All these days of picking up the bad ones aside, the good nuts still have to be gathered over a period of weeks. They have to be cracked and shelled for storing. Last year I took 40 pounds of nuts to the cracker and then every night for about 4 weeks, I shelled nuts. How much easier it would be to just buy them.

But here on the ground is food. I think about all this as I walk. There is something compelling about gathering. A sort of connection with the past, participating in an activity that humans have engaged in from the beginning though I know I won't perish if I don't gather enough to see me through the winter. A comforting thought.


18 comments:

  1. What a wonderful way to immerse yourself in life, in a way, in a very enriching way. One that somehow mirrors daily living in the picking and choosing, testing and contemplating, pausing and deciding. Things we do each day.

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  2. Leaving free fruit to rot is a crime of the worst kind.
    And if collecting them gives rise to the meditation you are engaged in here, then all the better.
    Happy picking!
    PS. Pecans are expensive here, where we don't grow them.

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  3. I love the feel of the earth on my bare feet. My ancestors owned a pecan plantation in Alabama. My DNA tingled as I read this post.

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  4. What a lovely touchstone with the earth. Very rich description and brought me there with you.
    We have a backyard neighbor pecan tree. Every year we get the bonus of the fruit and the chore of the leaves. Two sides to every coin. Gotta love it. The Olde Bagg

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  5. I haven't heard from daddy how his tree has been doing this year. It was drought dry in his area of NC - but I don't know what impact that might have on a pecan tree (not good, I imagine!).

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  6. Meditation with a bonus, nuts for the winter! I love gathering- either on the beach or in the woods- It is innate...those who are a bit out of touch- shop, I suppose.
    When the winter cold hits and the holidays are upon us all those gathered nuts will make you so happy and will make your feet tingle with the feel of cool grass on an autumn day when the shade was not so much a comfort.Sweet hours spent doing the natural good thing- gathering.

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  7. Hunter ~ Gatherers. I always like to read about them. Here at home the squirrels have taken all the pecans from out 2 trees. I won't let the G-man shoot at them with his b-b gun. I say, "They are just trying to make a living... and we can buy pecans."
    The mornings here are wonderful too at least for a few days, but it will warm up again by weeks end.

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  8. I know what you mean about the drastic change in the weather. Too much, too soon! Some in between weather would be nice. You're so lucky to have all of those pecans. Guess you'll have to make a pie!

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  9. I love pecan pie but I'm not sure I've ever seen a pecan tree. Will the less than perfect pecans still be good food for the wild critters?

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  10. I wonder if pecan trees would grow here? It is a lot of work, but I like the mindless stuff, leaves my mind free to ponder other things. Pitting cherries, shelling peas, peeling apples ...........

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  11. Pecans, I love them, they are very expensive in the stores here. Love nature, can not imagine shelling 40 pounds of them, it must be calming I would think, take care.

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  12. What a bonus. Yes, agreed a lot of work, but the payoff is so spectacular - and besides your effort they are free food. And yummy at that too. :)

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  13. Lovely - one of the prettiest things you've written.

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  14. It is meditative when our bare feet touch the Earth and we gather her bounty. So beautifully described Ellen.

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  15. I found you through your comment on Joanne's blog Whole Latte...

    What a beautiful post and beautiful art glass. I have a blog roll for artist and I'm adding you to it.

    A new friend.
    Nancy
    N. R. Williams, fantasy author

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  16. I don't know about you Ellen, but I find that food gathering seems to satisfy some primeval instinct. Or is it just me?

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  17. I love pecans. How lucky you are to grow them. (Saw a Chihuly glass cactus in Phoenix and thought of you last week.)

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  18. What do you end up doing with all those pecans? I think pies are a nice idea...and you know, you could shp them to a certain Canadian blogger :)
    Reading about you picking pecans is so interesting, it's honestly only something I would ever read about. This was a fascinating post.

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