the infinite generosity of Gaia

Yesterday was about addressing the last of our Tromboncino winter squash. This is one of those activities that inspires my mind and heart to wander, wonder, explore. I am fascinated by how such a ordinary activity can inspire so much heartfelt consideration. Yet, as a devotee to Gaia, I often pause to reflect on my activities – large and small, ordinary and extraordinary – and how they nourish and nurture my relationship with Gaia.

2024 was the first year I grew this particular squash, and I will grow it again. Throughout the summer I harvested a gardener’s ton, small, at around 12 inches long, to use fresh, as a summer squash, in all manner of cooking. Any overabundance was sliced and dehydrated. There was one squash, hiding, as all squash tend to do, that grew larger, and this delighted me because it chose to be the one to grow to maturity to be a winter squash. I love this about this particular squash, that it's wonderful as a summer squash, when small, and equally wonderful when mature as a winter squash. The squash pictured here has been feeding us for the last past couple of months. I would just cut off what we needed in the kitchen, and leave the squash in its place in cool storage in the basement. So simple. So generous. And like so many squashes, winter and summer, so versatile and useful in so many dishes.

So yesterday I cleaned, peeled and cubed the last of this Tromboncino, and filled two quart jars. I used a pint or so in a chickpea Thai curry soup that we enjoyed for supper. The rest will be used for this ‘n’ that over the coming days. And if I feel like I'm not gonna get to it, I'll dehydrate the cubes for later use. Or maybe feed them to the chickens. But if the stars align with my motivation and physical energy, I’ll likely roast and puree it to make some biscotti.

We shall see. In the meantime…

In this moment I feel the infinite generosity of Gaia. I could go on, and likely will in my blue ink journal (my writing journal) to give this particular gratitude more attention. But in this moment, this one right here, I’ll sit a spell in the gloaming of the morning to bask in the infinite generosity of Gaia.

Thanks for indulging me.

🕊️