Sentient Celery
Dear Dungarees,
I've got this celery in my refrigerator. It's in the bottom drawer. Do you know the kind? It sits there patiently, day after day, almost regal in its confinement. This uninspired vegetable seems fresh, but what mystery lies inside its stringy mass that I cannot tell if it's 3 days, 3 weeks, or 3 months old? Surely my crisper drawer isn't enchanted? I have no recollection of purchasing this produce yet here it sits dignified and unassuming. Clearly powerful beyond reason.
I've got this other celery. Living behind the cheese bags, jelly, and pickle jars, pressed between the shelf crack and the back wall of my refrigerator, homeless without a drawer. THIS celery has some issues. The large outer ribs of this stalk have been removed and all that remains are the small tender light yellow soggy centerpieces. The ones with tiny leaves curled up inside themselves. The ones you think about throwing away but keep because hey, it's still celery too. Clearly persistent beyond reason.
When I was a kid, I remember finding wilted celery in our fridge. I was about to throw it away and end its misery. My mom gently took it from my hands cut the clery base off, and put the soggy stalks in ice water. "It still has value. Give it time" she said. Within minutes the wilty veg was transformed. Straight, upright, crispy, and ready to use. I'm still fascinated by this scientific magic trick 40 years later, and her ability to find value in what appears limp and unusable.
My mom is the epitome of a Proverbs 31 woman. Industrious, wise, respected, kind, lovely, resourceful, encouraging, steady. Her grace and dignity supported me when I went off the rails and made some pretty colorful, poor life choices as a teen. She did not support, encourage, or love my unwise choices. She loved me because of the things in my heart and spirit she knew were worthy and valuable. That same grace and encouraging love has been shown to many over the years. And I wonder how much she felt like celery at the time. Did she feel powerful or wilty beyond reason? Maybe both. That's where I find myself today.
A difficult situation has recently left me feeling droopy, almost wilty inside. Life's challenges never resolve on a predictable timeline, do they? In times of uncertainty, I recall my mom's vision of value in what appears to be flaccid and lifeless. I think of her words "It still has value. Give it time".
Bathed in my fridge light's soft glow, I stare at my celery. In a moment of solidarity and silence, it seems to stare back at me. I am struck anew at its power. Despite its apparent simplicity, this vegetable holds great promise for inspiration and endurance. I still don’t have answers but I have hope. And maybe I'll clean my fridge tomorrow.
There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
