Tend and Keep

Yesterday, I went to the sale barn in order to watch the weekly sheep and goat auction. I have some goats to sell, and I wanted to get all the paperwork filled out and also do some reconnaissance on the backing-up-a-trailer logistics in advance of the real deal. My mom, ever supportive, came along to show me the ropes. It was early in the morning, and the farmers who were selling listened intently to the auctioneer, noting prices and weights in their small pocket notebooks. We watched several rounds of sheep come through and get sold in rapid succession, prices all good, farmers nodding along, until suddenly my mom sighed.  "It's a shame," she said, "that they run them through so quickly. At least let us admire them for a while! All that hard work and care, gone just like that!" At first, I smiled at her sentimentality. But then, as often happens when children consider their parent's words, I started to realize that... she's right. The farmers sitting in...

My daughter is running, skirt and hair flying, arms pumping, bursting in the door to proclaim the good news: Mom! A zucchini! I follow her outside, unable to resist her joy. She picks up a stick and gently, reverently, moves the giant leaves aside to point at her discovery. There it is: a smooth, green, baby zucchini, beautiful and full of potential, quietly astonishing. We admire together, and share the delight of noticing this good fruit.