I thought a quick trip to the store on Sunday would avoid the holiday crunch as we approach Thursday. I was wrong.
As I negotiated my way past the laden shopping carts, floor displays and product samples to purchase non-food items, I stopped next to a woman reading the contents label on a package of stuffing mix.
We looked at each other and giggled. How hard is it to soak stale bread? We both agreed, but she tossed the $2.50 package into her cart, believing she was saving time.
I maneuvered my mostly empty cart past the day-old bread shelf. For 99-cents you could get a sliced Italian bread and for 75-cents you could get six thinly sliced bagels. Really, how hard is it to soak day-old bread?
Back home, I began cracking the walnuts I scrubbed last month. I have not mastered the technique, so it has taken me several hours to accumulated a half-cup of walnuts.
In the meanwhile, I marvel at how the nut meat swells into each chamber, which is surrounded by an inner shell so hard, it makes me wish I had squirrel teeth.
I study the differences in color and size. I am beginning to agree with my friend Bird Lady that the floaters are duds. One of my batches had a lot of floaters.
When I spend time with the food I eat, something changes. I’m nourished on many levels. For me, the investment of time in foraging and farm support yields a superior return to the maze-like race around the market for prepared foods.
At first light, snow flurries fill the air. A coating of dense, wet snow blankets the shrubs and trees. I see the shape of a hawk on the fencepost. Wings flare and the bird takes off.
I am blessed and deeply Thankful.