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?!?! ...
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!
(c) July 2011
Oh, how this brought back memories of hot summers spent picking peas, squash, okra, corn, tomatoes, digging up new red-skin potatoes, then having a meal of all that fresh produce just a few hours later. How rich I was! and didn't even realize it at the time! Thanks, MJ!
ReplyDelete~ from EH via Facebook
Gee, M.J., you sure stirred up a lot of memories for me, memories that had been tucked back from years ago.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother had two gardens, one for peas, potatoes, onions, etcetera, and one for flowers. As I read your musings, I could see her in those gardens in her long sleeved smock and straw hat tending her tender plants. It was always a special time for me to be in one of the gardens with her. I loved digging in the dirt to find potatoes or other prizes hidden there, and her flower garden was like a beautiful oasis behind the house sort of like a "secret garden" with the most wonderful aroma mixed with roses, snapdragons, day lilies, hibiscus, etc. I haven't thought about those wonderful days in years.
I loved snapping beans as well as shelling peas when I visited her in the summers. I felt so important to be helping with such a "grown-up" job!
Thanks for sharing your special stories, and for this one especially. We are so blessed to have such "wealth"! Sometimes we really need a reality check in this hectic world, and thanks for bringing this one to light!
~ from PL via email