Harvest , Plenitude , Sharing and Thanksgiving
by Alejandro López
A t the peak of harvest , northern New Mexican vegetable grower , Lilliana González , and her three grandchildren wished to express their appreciation for some small favors that I had done on their behalf during the course of their summertime ’ s cultivation of a field that lay beside my home . As they were digging up carrots and beets , she told me “ Go get me the biggest basket you have . I want to give you a few vegetables .” A large , powerful and commanding woman of sixty-some years , who had recently taken up the heart space that my deceased mother had vacated , I knew better than to cross her .
I instantly dashed to the house and removed from the dining room wall — where it hung as a symbol of plenty — a large , handmade reed basket and took it to her . “ That ’ s exactly what I had in mind !” she exclaimed . In no time flat , she and her granddaughter Mia had carefully arranged an artful cornucopia of gleaming fruits of the land : onions , cabbage , cucumbers , tomatoes , green beans , corn , carrots , beets and other delectable produce ; some still had ladybugs or bits of soil clinging to their irregular , un-doctored surfaces .
Against my protests of “ Woah !! You ’ re giving me too much ! Stop , you ’ re giving me way too much , Lilliana ,” she proudly presented me with the enormous basket overflowing with the bounty of the land . Before accepting it , I asked if I could take a photo of her and the grandchildren , the youngest of whom had just woken up from a nap and was still a little grumpy . It showed , because in the final image , he appears seated in a chair and scowling with one upraised , muddy foot pointed directly at the camera and in defiance of the good time that the rest of us were having .
Aside from this amusing detail , the image is a picture-perfect representation not only of Lilliana , her grandchildren , and their bountiful harvest , but also of Mother Earth ’ s infinite outpouring of nourishing fruits that enable our bodies to maintain a certain temperature , provide us with energy to come and go as we please , and that build and repair the cells of our many and complex organs . Both the outpouring of Lilliana ’ s kindness and the generosity of the earth converged in that instant into a single force : The Life Force .
In the days ahead , I diligently made use of all that I had been given , because in our numerous farmer households , we had been brought up to value each and every grain of cereal , the last drop of milk and even the rinds of certain fruits and vegetables , and , just as importantly , to waste nothing . We did so not because