Gratitude - Day 12
“If we perceived Life with reverence,
and understood our evolutionary process,
we would stand in awe at the experience of physical life
and walk the Earth in a very deep sense of Gratitude.”
Gary Zukov
I'm not a student of the Bible. No big surprise there! However, my sister and my brother-in-law can quote chapter and verse on just about any subject. Whether I agree or not isn't really the point I'm trying to make. I just think their knowledge of things biblical is pretty amazing. Some people take the Bible literally; every word and idea is straight from God. Some people give the scholars and transcribers more leeway.
And then there are some skeptics like me. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a beautiful book, filled with wonderful stories and great principals to live by. I don't know a lot about ancient history, but I'm pretty sure that the book we have today was inspired, yes, but also put together by patriarchs of old who kept or tossed stories depending on the mood of the day.
Thus we come to Eve - and the point of this post. As I was making my father's lunch - a banana, sitting on a bed of lettuce, slathered in peanut butter and mayo (the banana, not the lettuce) - I got to thinking about fruit. Which took me to a place of gratitude. Strange I know, but true.
Where would we be today if Eve had not bitten into that apple? Assuming it was an apple, and not a metaphor for something else. Does that mean that forever and a day the world would be without the sweet delicious taste of a crunchy apple on a crisp Fall day? Or apple pie, apple crunch, apple cider, apple fritters, or, my favorite apple turnovers. Mmmm, lightly browned puff pastry oozing with an apple cinnamon filling, drizzled with a powdered sugar frosting? If Eve had waved that ugly old snake goodbye, left the apple where it hung and went to snuggle with her Sweet Adam, would there be no apple pieces in our Thanksgiving dressing?
Thinking about Eve and apples, makes me wonder, why was that tree forbidden? And why was that fruit picked. I mean this lady lived in Eden for goodness sake. Think of the fruit trees that must have abounded there (Abounded? Is that a word?) Why was the apple singled out? Would things have turned out differently, i.e. no pain in childbirth, no PMS, no bunions, etc, if the wiley serpant had led Miss Eve to a peach tree?
All this thinking of fruit reminds me of Zubin. His middle eastern mother introduced way more fruits to him than I did to my kids. My household only knew the basic delights of the aforementioned apple, oranges sliced in quarters for mid-game soccer relief, and on occasion bananas that turned black before they were eaten. I did, however, teach my kids to like carrot cake, but carrots aren't considered fruit are they?
On the few occasions I went to visit, Zubin would give me a hard time about drinking too many colas and eating too few fruits. For awhile Weneki was on my side and our doubled up forcefield could repel most of his arguments about why fruit is better for you than coke. Sadly Zubin passed away leaving Weneki to choose her own food groups. I couldn't help but notice on my last visit that my goal-setting, triathlon participating daughter is now a major fruit eater. And not a picky one either. Her aunt happened to bring her bags full of Washington cherries, peaches, tomatoes, and banana muffins. This child of mine, dug right in and chomped down on them all.
I thought eating tomatoes like apples was a Southern thing. I know Zubin must smile when he looks down from Heaven and sees his beloved's face dripping with peach juice.
If you haven't already figured it out, today I am grateful for not just apples but all fruit. In Jacksonville the orange and lemon and grapefruit trees are nearing the picking stages. There's a place in town where you can pick your own; that sounds like it might be fun. But I thought that about blueberry season too. I guess, if the truth be told, my favorite fruit to pick would be apples - right out of the bin at the grocery store.
Besides fruit, today I'm also grateful for cooler temperatures, memories of Zubin, my Black kitties who have completely different ways of saying it but tell me every day how much they like living here, and laptop computers. Where would I be without them?
May your day be filled with the fabulous fresh aroma of something fruity baking in the oven,
Merry ME
P.S. For some really strange reason I can't get that game out of my head that you play with kids on a long car ride after you've counted license plates that start with the letter "M" and sung every verse of Old MacDonald. You know the one, "I'm going on a picnic and I'm going to take ...
an apple. The next person names a fruit that begins with a "B" - blueberry ... and so on.
If you went on a picnic, what fruit would you take?
Comments
kiwi
and hazelnuts.
( nuts are fruits right?)