When I went back to college a few years ago, I did not know it would lead to this...
I am sitting on a hot day in August on the side of a busy highway. In front of me, there is a table partially covered in a red-striped cloth. A basket overflows with sweet Walla Walla onions. Beside them is a display of yellow cooking onions. So far, no one else has noticed them. Traffic flies by. Busy people are on their way to somewhere. But to me, these onions tell the story of my year.
In the winter, I ordered seeds and onions sets. In spring, I planted. All summer, I hoed and weeded and watered. Now, as cool nights and hints of color in the maple leaves remind me of Autumn's approach, I have harvested and cleaned these onions.
I think they are beautiful. They are large, and for the most part, unblemished. They were grown with nothing but nature and good old fashioned exertion.
So, I sit here, alone with my thoughts, as the cars fly past.
It strikes me that life is like a maze; full of twists and turns, false starts and dead ends. It doubles back on itself sometimes. I wonder... am I spiraling out, away from the center of things, or flowing in toward the heart?
Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you a heart full of gratitude.