Mushrooms: From My Lawn To My Tummy

Yesterday, I had a less than desireable day. While driving home, I decided to mow the lawn when I got home, to take my mind off things. I finished mowing and was workin’ the weed eater when along comes a lady walking by. She asked me if she could cut the mushrooms from my front lawn. Well, that intrigued me, of course. My curiosity got the best of me as per usual, and I had plenty of studying to procrastinate from, so I engaged her and asked her to tell me all about the mushrooms, and how she knew they were edible. She mentioned she was from Russia and she grew up knowing about mushrooms, and that Americans are so out of touch with nature. She said this kindly, but matter-of-factly, and I agreed with her!  So, we knelt down on the grass and I got my first mushroom lesson. She taught me how to cut them, wash them… and how to cook them. Then she looked at me and said, “now you probably want to keep them.” And she was right… now I wanted to keep them, cook them and eat them… so I offered to split them with her… She gave me her phone number and told me to call her and tell her how they were. When we got up from the grass, I realized that she had made my day and I felt so much better. I shared that with her and… turns out that she had had a rotten day too, and now felt much better. Such a beautiful thing when we stop to interact with one another. I was touched by her sharing a part of life with me, and she was touched by someone being interested. It was a mutually beautiful thing.

So… tonight, I cut, cleaned and cooked the mushrooms, exactly how she had taught me… and they were delicious!!!

A Brief Reprieve

Over Thanksgiving week, I got to co-lead a team from my previous church: Pathways on a servant project to Tacna, Peru. We were able to help a few families by building a house, pouring a foundation for another house, and general clean-up. We were also able to spend time with the people, which is always my favorite part of a trip like this. Jeremy (pictured above) is a young boy with a lot of pre-mature family responsibility. His father is no longer living, and his mother just recently lost her second husband to death from a strange accident. Jeremy has three younger siblings that he helps care for, so is no longer able to go to school, at his young age of eleven. The stress of adult responsibility is evident on his child-face. He is living adulthood way before his time, at the loss of his childhood. One day, he brought out a deck of cards and was just sitting there, while his little sister was napping. I went over and we ended up playing cards. I taught him a few tricks, and we mostly played “go-fish”, “war”, and “slap-jack”. The smile on his face was priceless. It was a brief reprieve for him, from his normal responsibilities, a bit of childhood allowed to reign for a few moments. As I left towards the end of the week, I said goodbye to Jeremy as he was in a circle with his siblings and a few friends… playing go-fish. It didn’t change his life, but it brought a bit of childhood back to his reality.

None of us can ever choose how or where we enter this world, but we can share a bit of love along the way.

Chicken Bus Please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are all kinds of busses in this world. I was on the bus, here in Seattle the other day and lo and behold, I learned another piece of good information. But it made me long for Chicken Busses in Guatemala. Apparently, there is no eating on the city busses in Seattle. I was sitting on the bus minding my own business, when I decided to have a bit of a snack. I took out my banana and began to eat it. A few minutes later, the loud speaker came on and the bus driver said… “Please cover your food at all times”. I had no idea what he was saying until it sunk in that I had uncovered food. Then I caught him staring at me in the rear view mirror… and he said, “NO Eating on the bus”. Wow… all I could say was, “Sorry, I didn’t know”. Which was true… I didn’t know… but I sure do now!!!

As I was thinking about eating my banana, my mind went to countless chicken bus rides when I lived in Guatemala. They are called Chicken Busses for a reason… everything is transported on a chicken bus, including chickens, dogs, goats, etc… and everyone is allowed to eat… and if it’s a long, hot bus ride… there are smells that make that food not really want to stay in your stomach, and that makes for a pleasant ride, you can imagine! When you don’t fit in the bus, they even let you ride on top, which I did many times!!

There are definitely different kinds of busses in the world… I actually would prefer a chicken bus over a Seattle city bus any day. Call me crazy, it’s just a bit more real.

Bluejake

I love this guy’s photos. He just sees things well. This one is beautiful.

Gas, Buses, Bikes, Walking… People

So as I have been out and about these days… I have seen more people walking with grocery bags in their hands… More people at the bus stops, waiting… More bikes out of the garage, with people on them. As gas prices go through the roof… I have to stop and wonder if it could actually be a good thing… as it may serve to get our society back into “community” where we actually have to interact with people on a daily basis as opposed to jumping in our cars independently. The more we choose to walk, take the bus, ride the bike, etc… the more people we may actually get to greet on the way. Maybe these prices are a blessing in disguise as we begin to re-encounter a simpler time when things weren’t as “easy”… times when we didn’t have the option of whatever we wanted at our fingertips… As much as I hate to put $4.50 a gallon in the tank… I can’t help but see the beauty of the possibilities of a simpler time re-visited… a time where people actually chose to interact… and were better for it.