Potato Lesson

Today, I will be harvesting potatoes. Though I have done it many times, I am always struck by the beauty of the potato as I pull it up from the Earth. We grow Cranberry Red's, and when they emerge, they are almost luminescent. They are a deep red, almost purple, and the thin crisp skin slices more like that of an apple.

As I dig them out, my mind goes to what is like for people who rely on the harvest for food. They take a perfectly good bag of potatoes, cut them up into seeds, and plunge them into the ground. All this in the hopes that the seeds will become plants, and the plants will produce fruit, and the fruit would be enough to get them through to the next planting season.

As I sat in the deck this morning, Ant passed in front of me. First moving North to South, the South to North. Ant and all it's members fan out in many directions searching for food, communicating what they find back down the line, and organizing to bring the food back to their home. Once there it is shared with everyone.

When Ant ventures out, finding food is a possibility, not an inevitability. Sometimes Ant finds food. Sometimes Ant doesn't. The bounty or the hunger is shared by everyone.

Today, as I dig potatoes, I will be thinking about Ant, and the wisdom they live by. That no one is entitled to abundance. That scarcity and starvation are a part of life. We must share both when we need to, because sometimes we bury the bag of potatoes, and Mouse eats them all.