It's Time

It's time again.  It's time to reap the harvest of the garden and safely tuck it away into storage for the winter.  It's time to gather up everything we've grown and bottle it up for later in the year.  Once again our harvest is bountiful, and once again I am grateful for the sweet smells drifting through my home as the bottles are filled with the beauty of the bounty.  I spent a day last week side by side with my mom doing exactly this.  We talked and we laughed and our hands gently carved and sliced each of the home grown ingredients, and then we sat and we waited.  We filled our glasses with ice cold water and we talked some more until the glasses were sweating, and eventually it was time to process our work.  As each of the bottles were removed and placed on the counter, the sweet sound of them sealing filled my ears.  One more year of salsa placed on the shelf, and one more year of memories with my mom to be kept all to myself for a rainy day.  It's that time again.  Time to continue traditions and time to feel gratitude in my heart for this time with my mother, and for the empowerment I feel from growing and bottling our families hard work in a jar.  When we break those bottles out after the snow flies, my mind will drift back to our time together in the garden.  The wind blowing through Seej's hair, Lou holding that hose, and Doop's bare feet wandering through rows that they shouldn't.  And how could I forget more learning from my mom about her contract with the earth and the way they take care of one another.  It's that time of year once again to bottle all of it up and keep it just a little bit longer.  I love when it's time.