Good Morning?

Why oh why am I up so early? Mark is an early bird but I'm more of a middle-of-the-morning kind of gal, so getting up at 5:00 a.m. is a foreign concept. I think I've watched the morning news about three times now, so figured it was time to move on to something else - like blogging.

I stopped by Kyle and Sarah's for a minute last night, and it was a sweet visit. They have been canning and showed me their bounty of jarsfull, and then shared ! I came home with canned tomatoes, salsa, pickled beans and blackberry freezer jam, along with a beautiful assortment of gourds and squash in a harvest basket! It was so much fun to listen to them talk about their first canning experience and to hear the excitement in their voices, and some pride too. They still have apples and grapes to do. :)

Casey's been wanting to borrow my wheat grinder too, so they can make some whole wheat bread. Sharon and Gideon made bread for our last family dinner, and it was very good so I'm more than happy to loan them a tool that will help them make more! :)

Sara called on Sunday - YAY!!! We hadn't been able to really talk since July, so we had such a good long chat. She had just finished prepping for a winter container gardening class she is doing, and she is happily working in the floral department at Whole Foods so that she can keep her hands on some plants. :)

When I reflected on these conversations with my kids, I realized that maybe a little bit of their upbringing did have an affect on them. I used to open the doors of our pantry simply to admire the jarsfull of jam and veggies and fruit, and I told the children that the jars glistening with colorfully canned healthy foods were my 'jewels' because I knew of the riches we had. The biggest accomplishment was the day we gathered up the neighborhood kids to assist with making applesauce from our six apple trees, and we canned over 120 quarts in one day - a VERY long day.

For a couple of years when they were all younger, I baked our bread on a regular basis. Experimenting with seeds and grains, and sharing the mixing and kneading with my little boy created much more than a sustainingly delicious loaf. The memories that Scott and I share are funny and priceless - he would knead his little piece of dough while I worked enough to make two big loaves, and we could tell that the bread was ready to bake when it looked just like the skin on my arms, because they are very white with lots of freckles. LOL Whole wheat dough has lots of speckles. He was in charge of informing me when it was just right. After it baked, and the house was full of the aroma, the big kids would come home from home and everyone wanted a slice. Even the neighbors benefitted when I had plenty to share.

Being in the garden when they were younger wasn't something they all really enjoyed because it seemed like such work, but now they look back at that time as somewhat magical. Our lives' rhythym would adjust to the harvest of fruit from our trees and veggies from the garden, and yes, hours and hours of canning and freezing. Tending the plants and trees was a big job, important to a large family who depended on the successful gleaning to get through the winter.

I'm not taking credit for their appreciation of the things we did during their childhood, but I like to know that maybe some of it comes from shared memories of time when we worked side by side, and the traditions we created. No opening our canned grape juice until Thanksgiving dinner; blueberry pancakes for the 4th of July; warm sweet applesauce with cream and so on.

Good memories. Good traditions. Happy satisfaction to share their accomplishments now.