You always go back to your roots...

I was raised in farm mode. Chickens, cows, hogs, etc.... Consequently we had our own meat(s), eggs, and definitely grew our own garden; and as if that wasnt enough, we leased larger fields to garden yet the more, & to yield hay to feed the livestock we had. I never ate 'storebought' meats or eggs until I was ~10yo, at which point I thought the egg on my plate was ruined (not knowing it was merely storebought) *it tasted that way anyway!
I dug what seemed like acres of potatoes, picked peas, butterbeans, green beans, corn, squash, cucumbers, for many more summers that I thought I cared to recall. I never really complained about the red plums, strawberries, and watermelons though, because that was pretty instant gratification from a childs point of view! One year we had so much surplus, we sold it to passersby from our front porch. What we didnt have room to store in the barn or freezer went as follows: Watermelons 3/$1.00, and CornEars 10/$1.00. But the greatest most permanent memory was that we always had quart jars of the rich fruit of our labor lining the shelves in the 'back room' of our home, that we ate from thruout the year.
Those were the Gool Ole Days! I thought it was child labor, and maybe it was, but it was definitly forming roots in me and teaching me things that I will forever value: A working knowledge of sustainability.
My Dad worked swing shift at the local mill, and met us at the field when he got off, where my Mother, along with my brother and I intow were waiting on him. We would stay and attend things at the garden & field for another several hours until dark. This was the routine of the spring/summer/fall as I came to know it for many of my childhood and preteen years. It formed the basis of my work ethics. Your job doesnt end with the punch of a clock.
Time grew on and by my early teens, we processed the last of our livestock, the leasor of the land passed on, and we then only attened to our 22acres, insitu, wherein we lived. It was mostly worked in hay, and a good acre of garden behind the house. It was like a drive my parents had, regardless to who was home. By then, my brother and I had grown and left home, only to stop in (frequently) for those great homecooked meals of Fried Green tomatoes, Steamed Squash with onions, peas, butterbeans, etc... and whatever else the garden was yielding at the time.
Time rocked on and as my children began to grow just old enough to walk, one by one, there they were, in the garden with Nannie and PawPaw, learning that same invaluable lesson -they had been, and were now teaching. The eldest of my children was priviledged to be exposed to them both for 10 years, the next one, 5 years, and the baby, just 2 years 6weeks. Even the daughter we adopted has memory of working in MsSandy's garden even before she was a part of our family. My Mother just had this knack for teaching invaluable lessons. Coincidentally after my Mother's death, It became evident-to me-that the youngest girl holds attributes and ways the most like my Mother's spirit and drive. Even tho she knew her the least, I like to think it was a little angel dust that fell her way upon my Mothers passing....One thing is for sure, She sure would've enjoyed her, because she would see in her that vitality for life-that she herself enjoyed.
Life as it is, sends us curves at times, Its how we handle the road that make the difference. God puts just the right flavor of people in your life to cover the bases, take up the slack, and make the difference.
I have had many, good friends along the way, Not fair weather friends, Good Friends. Some cook well, some listen, some decorate, some design and fashion, some laughed and cried with me, some sat in silence with me, and some rebirthed the notion of gardening that I associated subconsciously with painful memories, painful because it made me think of my Mom and that she has not been here to share with me or see my children and nieces and nephews grow for the past dozen or so years. So the door was shut.
Reflecting, now, as my children are young adults and teens, I now find my self doing the same things my Mother did for purposes unknown, Just that it seems to feel like the right thing to do. It started small,(and still is in some folks eyes, lol!), but feels somewhat like a momentum within, and has begun to unearth something in me that makes sense to me.
It all started with trying to simply live a more healthy and natural lifestyle, and eating things in their more natural form. I was outside more by default of exercise. I had been given some bulbs by my perpetual flower/gardening friend who had thinned out her beds/pots, etc and kept encouraging me to liven up my back yard and deck that extends to the pool.....Well the stuff she gave me, I let sit out for over a year and practically die! -so I thought, but that next spring, siting bare alone in the box she gave it to me in, green shoots sprang forth, and as-I guess- fate would have it, my eldest son with NO promting, got out there, shoveled, and layed the bulbs in an arrangement, with the comment that "Mom, when these come up, I wont be here, but you can look at them and remember me" (How nostalgic,....Was that my Mothers voice?) I dont know, but what I do know is that if he wouldnt have had the 'foundation/rootsystem' that my parents gave him, he wouldnt have had the fortitude to put it in the ground knowing something will come up. Something (at that point) was awakened within me, and has unfolded more and more each day. So, each new plant that comes up, I am amazed. When that little clipping I snipped takes root, I am estatic!, I get more brave with each attempt, I am now waiting to see if the Alpha trees I uprooted/havested off my Granies tree will take root, so I can remember her when I see it in years to come-even tho I still have her now-Amazingly she is excited about the process as well, as if it is a part of her living on!
Now I am really getting brave and brought home some veggie plants. I have tried one or two before with no sucess, and reflecting it all, I think its the amout of Heart you put into it that makes it succeed.
Still trying to stay small and not get overwhelmed, I am estatic to see the peppers already growing.. , and my Yellow Hibiscus blooming. I am still finding my taste and stlye, But I am like a sponge absorbing every article, asking every question I can think of, and trying my hand at many green projects that I have been given a large foundation and root system (if you will) for life. Life has come full circle for me, it seems and I am now doing much of what my parents taught me (just maybe not on such a large scale) ..... I have much yet to learn, and have a basis wherewith to retain the information that I gather....I eagerly await the days ahead for what I have still to learn...Its as if I just stood up from my garden, put my hands on my hips, looked at my work, and pondered...Isnt it something, they always say you go back to your roots.