It's Canadian Thanksgiving. In the last two months we have had record wildfires in BC forcing thousands from their homes, multiple brutal tropical storms have robbed people of the very land around them , their families, their homes, their lives. Our American neighbours are reeling from the wounds both literal and psychological of the worst mass shooting in the history of that country. And their are bullies threatening us with nuclear weapons on the global school playground. I had lunch with a friend who told me her daughter had been in a terrible bicycle accident. And as if a gloomy sort of cherry on top was required, our roadside farm stand was robbed last week. For the second time. This time the thieves couldn't open the bolted locked box so they pried it up and took the whole thing.
Thanksgiving?
We have had personal connections with those in the thick of some of those disasters. A dear friend in the North Thompson has taken in people who have been evacuated and 15 horses. In the middle of this she has taken the time to text me pictures of some of the horses and their babies and ask me how I am doing. My cousin in Houston, whose husband is not well and recovering from a major lung transplant and whose mother is frail, has been opening her home to some of the victims of Harvey. And almost daily she continues her regular facebook posts of beautiful photography and inpiring quotes.
On Saturday at our local farmers market, our friends in the community sought us out to express concern over our theft, offer help with the stand and just give us a hug. And then we went back to our tables in the warm autumn sunshine and sold our produce as we do every week. Our local antique dealer located and gave me a steel 17 pound strong box to replace the other one- at cost, with no profit to them. In fact I think they took a loss. I went by to thank them, stopping for a moment to pet their huge leonberger "puppy" as I always do when I go to their store.
My friend with the badly injured daughter dried her tears and we turned to our usual talk about delicious recipes (we share a love of good food) and asked after my family.
It seems like when things are very bad, when we are on uncharted territory, we seem to turn to the life preserver of the ordinary, the usual, the familiar little homespun things. And after we catch our breath we kick like hell for shore and we, well, continue. Real heroism is sometimes just pressing on. And managing to find pleasure in something usual; a chat about the weather, a bite of delicious fresh tomato, the look the dog gives you when you pet him in just the right spot. And just for a moment, the small ordinary good seems to overcome even the extraordinarily bad.
Thanksgiving? Absolutely. For the people we love and who love us back and for the incredible enduring human spirit of just ... continuing.
Hmmm- Think I'll pop out to the honour stand this morning and attach the new lock box.
Chris
Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Have a look at our gift of gratitude under our recipe tag. its our new recipe for roasted tomatoes. Enjoy!