~nourishment~

~black-eyed peas, fresh from my Aunt's farm~

~~~~~

Last Wednesday, on the drive back to Charleston from Virginia - I took about a 7 mile detour off of I-95 in southern Virginia to visit my Aunt's produce stand.  She and her husband and son are real farmers, not pretend farmers (like me).  By the time I left, my car was filled with bags containing canteloupe and watermelon, blueberries and yellow squash, freshly picked ears of sweet corn and eggplants, a few tomatoes, and black-eyed peas.

This Aunt is my Mom's sister - and of my Mother's family, she probably reminds me the most of my Mom.  There is something about the way she runs around, always busy, and always feeding people or doing something for someone that reminds me of her.  She wanted to feed me lunch that day, but it was a bit early - and instead, she put some homemade blueberry bread and chocolate cookies into separate bags for me to take with me.  She thought I needed caffeine for the drive, so she also grabbed a cold Pepsi from the fridge.

~~~~~

  

~~~~~

 I don't think it matters how old we get, it always feels beyond good to have a Mother send us on our way with food to nourish us.  My last visit to Virginia to visit my Mother, the visit before the one when she passed away - was Easter weekend.  The Monday morning that I got up to go back to Charleston, she packed me snacks to take with me - and a sandwich for lunch.  She also grabbed a Dr. Pepper from the fridge in 'case I got sleepy'.  She died a few weeks later.

My kitchen is still filled with wonderful vegetables tonight, grown by my Mom's sister.  It feels wonderful to be nourished with such produce, but it makes me really miss my Mom.

~~~~~  

Comments

[Pat]

Funny, but my dad was the same way. He always sent me on my way from Ohio with a car trunk full of squash, tomatoes, apples, etc. The best, though, was the gallon of homemade apple cider.

Twenty one years later, I still miss him.

[Janet]

Glad you made the small detour and stopped. A lot of love and a car full of fresh produce is always a good thing!!

[compostinmyshoe]

The genetics of a farm background run deep. What a great story. Thanks.

[MNGarden]

Sweet memories are bittersweet sometimes but her love lives on in you. We have a farmers market nearby where there is wonderful fresh produce. We had black-eyed peas and cornbread recently. Yum!
Donna

[Pam]

Pat, I think it's really just hitting me that I'll always miss her too. This trip, my Dad gave me a pint of homemade applebutter, and two pints of his homemade spaghetti sauce. That was nice too.

Yes Janet, it's always a good thing indeed!

Compost, I'd like to think that farming runs in my genes. That's a nice thought.

MNGarden, thanks for stopping by. And thanks for the suggestion - I have shelled my black-eyed peas, but wasn't sure what I'd eat with them - cornbread is just the thing!

[Annie in Austin]

Seems to me it worked the other way, Pam, when you were the one who sent food to your mom, right? Guess we need to be on both sides of this - being nourished and nourishing others.

Black-eyed peas are good, but when we see those little Cream peas at the Farmers Market we have to buy some...just lovely!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose