UULent #care and #mutuality

Today was an exciting day. I harvested my very first crop of bananas!

At last year’s auction (2021) I bought a couple banana trees from Ken and Dorothy. They came and helped me find the best sunny spots in my yard to plant them. Ken dug the holes and I was able to add some of the compost I’d been working on for the past few years, hoping it would provide some extra nourishment for the trees. The trees grew rapidly over the summer and looked great in front of my little yellow house. How exciting it was when they each started to grow a big, beautiful bloom. The anticipation of bunches of yellow fruit began!

I made sure the trees were cared for by continuing to water and fertilize them, but the fruit was growing slower than I expected. Winter was settling in and I knew we’d probably get a freeze or two. I sent Ken and Dorothy at least a few pictures of the growing fruit throughout the winter asking, “are they ready to pick yet?”. The answer was always no, I had to keep waiting for them to round out a bit, keep watering them, and keep covering them when there was a freeze warning. Patience.

And then finally, last week, the branch that the bananas were hanging on broke off. The bananas still didn’t really look ready, and they were about half the size of store bought bananas, but obviously it was time. I brought them in and let them sit in my sunroom until I noticed how very ripe some of them were getting. I figured it must be time to finally peel one open and give it a try!

Oh so delicious– sweet tasting and the texture was perfect- so much better than what comes from the store! But the best part of all this are the feelings of care and mutuality that arise as I enjoy the fruit, knowing that it’s because of the people in this UUCL community that I had the opportunity to successfully grow something and be fed by it.

It is the seemingly small experiences, like growing a banana tree, that move me into an active hope, one which nudges me to envision the greater miracles that we can bring to life when we engage in care and mutuality. How much food could we all grow if we worked together? What else could we “grow” together?

Ken and Dorothy contribute an incredible amount to our community. My wish is that you are all able to take notice of that and to feel inspired, engaging in a relationship of mutuality with them and the rest of UUCL, and to experience the sweet taste of small miracles that sustain our lives.