Pea Pickin'

It was hot over the weekend.  Really hot. Perfect pea pickin' weather.

At least that's what Aunt Julia would have said.

Purple hull peas.  If peas were pennies ... we'd all be overflowing with wealth ... from decades of pickin' ... Aunt Julia's peas.


Interesting ... just looked up "wealth".  It means "abundant supply". 
Hmmm ... wonder when it became a term that repesented "money" ... or today's translation ...  "being rich" ...

Yes, I said "rich"... having "high quality or value".  ... richness is also about lushness, warmth, vibrancy, significance ... no real reference to money found there ... either ...

Ok ...webster.com also says that rich means "well-endowed" ...

Aunt Julia was rich ... beyond measure ... by any definition ... no doubt.

When my friend offered me the opportunity to pick peas ... in her garden while she was out of town  over the weekend ... there was no way I could turn it down.

It conjured up so many memories ... not to mention, I gave my mom the last bag of Aunt Julia's peas months ago.

My friend only had two full rows ... and two short rows ... of peas.  Pea picking is hot, sweaty, squatting & bending work ... so that was a plenty!

I remember Aunt Julia would head down to the bottom of the hill ... that's where her "garden" was ... at the bottom of the hill ... in the cooler hours of the morning.  She would load up her "hog-mobile" with 5 gallon buckets ...
and get after it.

She loved her garden.  She loved her peas ... best of all. 

Pea pickin'  ... it was a labor of love for her.  It's hard for some to understand the work ethic of those born in the early 1900's ... I guess.  There seem to be so many people today who don't undertand the concept of "work" at all.

Why in the world would she plant all of those rows of peas ... every spring ... year after year ... knowing that they would have to be picked in the hottest month of summer ... and that it was a back-breaking, grueling task?!?! 

Gotta wonder about the sense in that. 

Still ... Aunt Julia was faithful ... in her pea planting ... her pea picking ...

You never visited her that there wasn't a pot of peas on the stove ... the fruits of her labor ... just waiting to be served up ... along with a bit of love, encourgement, wisdom ... and more often than not ... a Jim Beam ... and a joke.

Rich.  That's what a visit with Aunt Julia was ... always.

Loose, light colored clothing.  That's what she wore to pick peas.  There was that funny one-size-fits-all t-shirt that she was given one year for Christmas ... later in life.  You know ... the one that has the curvatious body with the revealing bikini ... front & back ... designed to cover up a variety of sins ...

So she'd wear it down to the pea patch ... and from the road ... she was the hottest babe in the county ... as if she needed the t-shirt ... you see, Aunt Julia never lost her "curves"... and she wasn't much on "hiding her sins" ... either. 

.Aunt Julia was a card-carrying "Professional HO-er" ... from way back.  She showed me the card ... proudly ... in the midst of the hurt & confusion of my public "Ho-down".  It was her way of letting me know how proud of ME ... she was ... always ... no matter what ...

... and that there was no shame in doing what you do ...
as long as you do it well.

There was comfort in discovering that ... doing the right thing ... was somehow ...  a family tradition.

When her "Ho-ing" days were over ... she gave me the card ... for
safe-keeping.  She never wanted me to lose sight of who I was ....
or where I came from ...

A long line ... or maybe just rows & rows ... of pea-pickin' ... Ho-ers. 

She always wore a straw hat in the pea patch ... and she would stay down there way too long ... in our opinion ... in the heat.  One year, someone gave her an old delapadated one ... that was painted up like a watermelon ... green brim all the way around ... and a red crown with little black dots painted on for the seeds.

Aunt Julia had a thing for watermelon things. Bowls, paperweights, picnic baskets ... I never really understood why ... but she did ... and I have a few of those things around my house now ... they remind me of her ...
they always make me smile.

Anyway ... that ole pea pickin' hat was there in the garage just before we cleaned it out for the last time.  It was tattered & faded from the sun ... it had seen many-a-pea-pickin' day!  Not sure what happened to it ... my guess is that it was one of the very first things tossed into the big dumpster ... by those who really didn't know ... or appreciate ...

... what it was worth.

If it would have been hanging in my garage ... I would have let Jessi wear it ... when she was helping to pick the peas on Saturday.

About two 5 gallon buckets ... that's what we came away with ... this time.  Just enough peas ... to be worth something ... that's what I am thinking ...

So, yeah ... If peas were pennies ... we'd be overflowing with wealth ... or maybe it's worth ... you see ... worth is what  Aunt Julia was always shelling out ... with all of those peas.

Since I was a little surprised at the definition I found for "wealth" ... I figured I should take a look at "worth"  ... as well ...

... it means ... are you ready?!?! ...

worth ... it means ... "become" ...

Really ... if you don't believe me ... look it up! 

Life is like pea pickin'  ... it's really not so much about how many peas you pick ... it's about who you become as a result of your pea pickin' efforts ...

The  worth of your efforts is only measured in money ... if that's who ... YOU ...
choose to become ...

And as for being rich ... well, it has nothin' to do with peas or pennies ...

So there you have it ... a little bit of Aunt Julia's pea pickin' wisdom ...
re-discovered  ... on a hot July day.
 
Later in the evening, I began shelling the peas.  Jessi wandered into the kitchen ... and returned with a little bowl.  A creature of habit & routine.  It was time for ice cream ... that was my guess.

That's when the little nudge came ... and the whisper  ... "Guess again, MJ."

She sat down on the floor and reached for a handful of peas.  Stunned, I asked ... "What's up with that?"

Shyly she ducked her head ... in true Jessi fashion.  Anyone who knows Jessi ... knows exactly the look I mean ... it's the one that shows up ... just before she ventures forth ... hesitantly ... out of her comfort zone ...

Radiantly ... she smiled ...

"I'm just going to shell some peas. 

I'm not in trouble, am I?"

Aunt Julia would be so proud!

www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com

(c) July 2011

Rainchecks & Resolutions

 It's going to be the best year ever!
Happy New Year!

That was the message I got ... in the very first minutes of 2011 ... from someone who is important to me ... someone who's place in my life ... remains ... undefined ...

It made me feel special ... in the moment ... so I thanked him for such a nice wish ... and the instantaneous response was ....

It's HIS will.

A surprise message from an unexpected source ... kinda sorta like a fun fortune in one of those cookies ... that's how my "new" year started ...

I have wandered through the days ... the weeks ... the months since then with that little tidbit tucked away in my heart ... and it pops up ... the thought of it ... all on its own ... an unexpected word of encouragement from an unexpected source.

The year has been full of stuff ... so far ... actually full of overwhelming stuff ... and I am not sure that I have reached a place yet ...that allows me to see clearly ... whether the outcomes are more positive or negative ... whether real progress is being made in my life  ... in the lives of those who are most important to me ... or not ...

... not yet ...

There's been a lot of challenges ... pruning ... changes ... hurting ... healing.  So my guess is that real progress IS being made ... time will tell ....

I've been learning things.  That's for sure.  Things about myself ... that may have always been part of who I am ... just dormant for a very long time.  And maybe not.  It's possible that some of these things are brand-new & fresh ...

Impatiently waiting patiently ... for what's coming next.  I've been doing that for what seems like a very long time.  Reality is ... it's only been as long as ... the blink of an eye ... the snap of a finger ... the flip of a switch from "off" to "on".

June 2011 will always be remembered by me ... as the waiting month.  Waiting for the plumber ... waiting for the new dishwasher ... waiting for the cable man ... waiting on the old client ... waiting on new opportunities.

And for most of the year,  I was simply waiting for June ... expectantly ... because of that pesky raincheck ... that was first offered over a single candle ... very early in the year.

There comes a time, you know, when there's too many candles ... it becomes harder & harder to determine which ONE is the one that counts ... the one  you are supposed to make the wish on ...

So on this particular cake ... there was only one candle ... to keep it simple ... to make it easy to focus ... one candle ... one wish ... just before it was blown out the observation was made ... that possibly a little thought should be given to this one ... because it was just one wish ... and maybe it was important ...

... yeah ... maybe it was.

So the raincheck was offered up ... after the reality of the situation set in.  A month or so later ... an attempt to redeem it was made ...  on a snow day ...

"Not now ... not yet ... maybe in June" ...

Rainchecks are interesting things.  They represent something that is offered ... that you think you want  ... but when you go to get it ... it's somehow unavailable.  And you wonder ... was it really available when the offer was put out there? ... Or was it just a gimmick to lure you in? ... To determine the level of interest .. the demand ... for what was being offered?

Sometimes ... if it's something you really want ... and are willing to wait for ... a raincheck is offered ... and accepted.  It's the promise ... of an unrealized opportunity ... to be redeemed at some future date.

Rainchecks are generally received with enthusiasm ... with every intention of being used ... of enjoying whatever it is ... sometime in the not too distant future ... like June. 

It's not uncommon, though, for them to be tucked away for safekeeping ... and forgotten ... only to be rediscovered at some much later time ... after the expiration date has come & gone.

At that point ... it is simply a flimsy reminder ... of an opportunity for something special ... that's been lost.

That's exactly what it feels like ... my raincheck that was given freely over a single candle ... validated on a snow day ... to be redeemed in June ... maybe ...

Turns out ... it was nothing more than a wish ... for a chance ... at something special ... that has never come to pass ... and I wonder, how long is "not yet"?

Just about as long as "maybe" ... I guess ..

June has ended ... July is here. 

In the business world, July is often the beginning of the the NEW year .. the fiscal year ... the re-evaluating of public revenues & public debt ... that's what fiscal means ... somehow, I get that.

In my world ... July is the beginning of a new year, too.  My life is lived out from one July to the next ... because lives begin on the day you are born ... and the days that make a year ... in a life ... are counted ... one-by-one ...
from that day forward.

I woke up yesterday ... it was the first day of July ... the first day after June ... and the first thought of the day was about that wish that was sent my way ... at the beginning of the traditional year ... about the best year ever  ... and I was thinking ...

Yeah ... well not so much ... not this year ... not yet ...

Being the word snob that I am ... I decided this might be a good time to take a closer look at "best" because like so many other things in life ... quite possibly the meaning has been lost or distorted somehow ... along the way ...

... and sure 'nuff, I was right ...

best - excelling all others; most productive of good

...hmmm ... "most productive of good" ... that probably doesn't always mean ... easy ... or fun ...

Then it occurred to me that the wish was intended for MY new year ... not the new year of the rest of the world ... and MY new year doesn't start for a couple more days. 

So I decided to sit down  ... and review the resolutions I made for myself as this new year started ... to see where I am at ... with those ... and how far I still need to go ... to get there ... where I want to go ...
as MY new year begins to unfold.

Honest.  Before I even had my first cup of coffee ... I was thinking about reviewing & re-establishing my New Year's resolutions. 

I never make this stuff up.

Coffee in hand ... I decided to check my email ... before I took a look at those resolutions ... 

Just a few minutes first ...  for those positive messages that fill my inbox ... either because of subscriptions to things or forwards from friends ... and the daily readings of my horoscope that amuse me so much ... because God often uses them to poke ... and prod me ... by sending me surprise messages ... that affirm what He's already telling me ... from unexpected sources.

Cancer Friday, Jul 1st, 2011

Today's Solar Eclipse can be a harbinger of an energetic shift

within your family. You could bury your head in the sand and be totally surprised by what happens,

or you can co-create your future by living the change you seek.

Start by sitting down and writing a list of resolutions,
as if it is New Year's Day.

And I wonder anew ... why am I always surprised when He does that to me ?!?!  Seriously.  You'd think I'd see it coming ... by now ... but I never do ...

Not yet.

So I went back to my very first blog post of the year -
 January 1, 2011 New Year's Resolutions - and here's what I found:

Choose happy ...
People before things ... always ...
Pray more ... wish less ...
Follow my heart ... whereever it leads ... at all costs ...

 

Be open to new adventures ...

Let someone in ... even if it hurts ...
Focus less on changing ... & more on being ... who I am ...

 

Don't lose sight of what's really important ---

like hand-holding & smiles ...

Embrace what's coming next with

joy & enthusiasm ...

 

Believe ...

Pretty sure I am going to stick with those resolutions ... and tomorrow ... I will make MY birthday wish ... it's not a secret ... what it's going to be ... it's the same wish that was offered to me on New Year's Day ... by someone who was on the verge of their personal new year ... at the time.

Sure hope they are grasping the concept of  "most productive for good" as they continue to navigate their way through the changes ... resulting from that single wish ... made over the single candle ... because there's no doubt ... it is important.

... the best year ever ...

That's my wish.  I am embracing it confidently.  Because "It's His will".  That's what my friend said.  And I believe him ... and Him.

... it's a raincheck ... with NO expiration date ... I'll take it ...

yes, indeed ... all that & a bag of ... M&Ms ...

Happy Birthday to ME!

www.lifelessons-mj.blogspot.com
(c)July 2011