“and the hands that prepared it”

Most people have seen produce grown in a garden or fruit in a small orchard or vineyard. Even after being raised on a farm, I am still surprised every time I see these commodities grown on a large scale. The first produce farm that intrigued me was a cucumber farm. Just imagine tons of green cucumbers being rolled from the ground and piled onto a trailer. If you get a chance to watch this production, you should. Otherwise, you should surf on over to Youtube and search for cucumber farming. It’s definitely a sight to see.

When I think of farming, major commodities like corn, cotton, and soy beans are the first to pop in my head. But we often forget that even mustard, spearmint, and strawberries have to be farmed in large quantities to keep up with the populations.

Instagram is a fun social media that is easy to navigate to find specific niches thanks to the #hashtag categorization. Alex and I were stalking researching a farmer’s Instagram pictures of his South African vegetable and grape farm last night and were both fascinated by the different commodity productions. I am not sure if the farmer would appreciate me posting his pictures on my blog, so you should do some stalking researching of your own!

Moral of this post- be mindful that what you see in the grocery store is far different from the origin. It takes a lot of hard work and nurturing dedication to get a field full of onions into individual bulbs under the produce aisle- stop and take some time to appreciate it all every once in a while. Each individual flavor in your bite of food took precise craftmanship to get to that point. When you bless your food “and the hands that prepared it”, remember that many hands have helped in the preparation- not just those of your mom or whoever cooked the meal.

And I’ll leave you with this video of Jennifer Lawrence, better known as Katniss from the Hunger Games movies. Even after falling down while walking up to accept her award at the Oscars, she is able to laugh at herself and stay humbled. We can all take a lesson from her there.

Love always,

Addie

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” – Thornton Wilder

traditions

There is something to be said for traditions….I’m not sure exactly what because to me traditions come with more of a sense of pride. It’s a feeling you get, all swollen up inside you, that makes you so excited and proud at the same time. Or at least that’s how I feel for most of the traditions that I have been a part of. Some things are so special that they cannot and do not need words of explanation; they can only be expressed through feelings.

I have been a part of and witnessed many traditions over the years. One in particular, I got to re-live last night: “the Schindlers trip.” Ever since we were old enough to drive ourselves, a few of my friends and I have been making trips to Schindlers, always sitting at “our” table and ordering the exact same thing to eat: order of skins and baloney burgers all around. Our names were written on the wall several years ago, and have recently been covered by a “Boulevard Brewery” sign about a year ago, permanently (and now secretly) designating that area for “our” table.

In high school we typically visited “the hill” about once every two months, but now that we’re all in school and spread out all over the map, we can only go when it fits into our schedules. Every time the door opens and the smoke of the bar fills my lungs, my heart begins to sing, knowing that I will shortly be singing my favorite songs from the juke box, trying to play pool, and chowing down on a deliciously greasy baloney burger…and more than likely, finishing off the afternoon/night with a short road trip over the “sisters” and wherever else Mamie the navigator decides to take us. The simple word “Schindlers” brings up some of the best memories that I have ever made and always makes me anticipate the next trip. Last night’s trip ended in an obvious trip of “sisters out on the sisters” (inside joke), levee riding, bed surfing, and running through a pivot. Nothing short of anything I would expect to experience on a typical Shindlers night. I guess you can take the girl out of the Bootheel, but you can’t take the Bootheel out of the girl.

I was also really happy to see some familiar faces in the smoky, little hole-in-the-wall, last night. A small group of girls from Sikeston high school were gathering as we were leaving. The thought that they might be continuing our tradition made me smile.

I cannot believe how fast summer is flying by. It seemed like it was going to last forever until July hit. Now I will be leaving for school in a short four weeks. I haven’t even been to the river yet this summer! AHH! Guess I need to get on that soon, along with moving furniture from Murray, and picking out decorations for my new room in Mississippi. I bought some throw pillows the other day, but that’s as far as I have gotten. I found a rug that I liked, but of course it was $600, so I think I’ll pass. I have learned that my latest hobby is home décor, but it is a depressing hobby because I usually find that the things I love the most are the most overly priced. That’s when inspiration strikes and I get my “I’m pretty sure I can just make that” ideas. So far I have made three pieces that I fell in love with, and saved almost $100! Yay for creativity, sewing machines, paint, and glue!

I’m so happy with the way that this summer has turned out so far and I still have one month left, that if all goes as planned, will surely top the rest of the summer by far! I love where my life is heading and can’t wait to see how it all turns out. Not that I don’t ever run into setbacks, but I always try to stay positive about life and understand that without the bad, we couldn’t appreciate the good. Resiliency and humbleness are some my favorite words to live by. I love when I can feel the joy in my bones…today is definitely a good day! Keep smiling!

Love always,

Addie

“Dating is like trying to make a meal out of leftovers. Some leftovers actually get better when they’ve had a little time to mature. But others should be thrown out right away, No matter how you try to warm them up, they’re never as good as when they were new.” –Lisa Kleypas

Plain old covers and Walls

You know what I’ve been thinking lately? It really is hard to judge a book by its cover. Some of the best books ever written have dated, simple, solid color covers binding them together. How are we supposed to judge that when there’s not even a picture to depict something that has to do with the plot? Or what about the books that have subtle “symbols” on the cover that you can’t quite understand until after you’ve read the book? Or the one’s whose cover doesn’t at all match what you envisioned in your head while reading the book? Maybe that’s just how society is evolving. Used to, people didn’t need a certain color or picture on the front of a book to convince them to read it. They read out of sheer enjoyment and curiosity. Not that people don’t still do that, but more and more I think we find ourselves literally judging what we want off of reviews from other people’s opinions or simply by the outward appearance that someone else created in their mind. How do you possibly deem that a self-made decision? Two people can look at the exact same object and see two totally different things. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t take other people’s word into consideration, but we do need to start weaning ourselves from the attitudes that are being fed to us by today’s society.

Ok, that intro led me to the meat of my discussion for today: don’t judge a book, don’t judge a person. There’s an old saying that we’ve all heard, “don’t judge another person until you have walked in their shoes.” As I was sitting in the McDonald’s drive-thru last night at 2:00 am, I never realized that to be more true. For example, do you think that the man working the window dreamed of growing up to work the McDonald’s night shift? Probably not. (I can’t honestly say that it would be a bad job, because I’m sure that it can be very entertaining at times to meet all the “forth-mealers” in their nightly endeavors, and if the man truly loves his job, who am I to say he doesn’t? The man could have been a road kill clean-up staff member for all I care, as long as that’s what truly makes him happy.) But the drive-thru window man didn’t look happy at all. Tiredness had overtaken him and he honestly looked a little sad, which initially could have been mistaken for rudeness, and also really put a damper on my Happy Meal.

Some people have tough lives. I don’t know why I was blessed enough to be dealt a good hand (Lord knows I don’t deserve it), but it always makes me think twice about those who didn’t quite get the “luck of the draw.” Some people are able to overcome their struggles and humble themselves, while others never even try to fight the battle because they feel like they have lost before they ever get started.

So when you run into a person that’s mean, dirty, quite, or simply working a job that you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself, remember, you don ‘t know where they’ve been and what they’ve had to endure. Battles and triumphs make us stronger, but they can also cause walls to be put up. When you judge a person without knowing or taking into consideration their story, you are not taking advantage of a life lesson. We can all learn something from each other.

Next time you’re out, take a moment to “people watch.” You’d be amazed at what you can gain from actually getting a glimpse inside someone’s life instead of taking one quick glance and shutting them out.

What have you learned from your neighbors today?

Love always,

Addie

“Your neighbor’s vision is as true for him as your own vision is true for you.” -Miguel de Unamuno