{"id":208,"date":"2011-08-17T05:00:48","date_gmt":"2011-08-17T09:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eatwithjoy.wordpress.com\/?p=208"},"modified":"2011-08-17T05:00:48","modified_gmt":"2011-08-17T09:00:48","slug":"cucumbers-pickles-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Cucumbers, Pickles, & Immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Our little garden has produced plenty of cucumbers this year, though they\u2019re drawing to an end now. We\u2019ve been eating lots of them just like this:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
salt, freshly ground pepper, dill; olive oil & red wine vinegar, with & without tomatoes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Because a truck crashed through our yard\u00a0<\/a>a few weeks ago, there have been plenty of work \u2018guys\u2019 (as my kids refer to them) in and around the garden recently. Most recently, a crew of landscapers came to plant new hedges in place of the ones that were uprooted in the accident. And while they were there, I caught sight of them eating some of my cucumbers.<\/p>\n

Now, what you need to understand is that I watched these cucumbers grow from lovingly selected heirloom seeds, referring to the plants all the while as my \u201cseed babies.\u201d After realizing that no people had been hurt in the crash, I was greatly relieved to see that my photosynthesizing \u2018children\u2019 were fine, too. So finding that my cucumbers were being \u2018stolen\u2019 by the landscapers made me scowl at first.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
cucumbers and string beans, vining together. I'm scowling because I can't reach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But of course, I already have more cucumbers than we can eat fresh. I\u2019m putting away the extras for another season, and, as I said, I\u2019ve been given plenty more fresh cucumbers absolutely free. Truth be told, I\u2019m even getting a little tired<\/em> of fresh cucumbers. But there it was\u2013a reflexive selfishness.<\/p>\n

And then I remembered two things:<\/p>\n

1. The men working in my yard\u2013immigrants all of them\u2013live on very little. From reliable sources, I know that many of them typically live on white rolls, bananas, and Gatorade. For many of America\u2019s working poor\u2013them included\u2013fresh vegetables (let alone organic heirloom vegetables) are a luxury.<\/a> <\/strong>A cool cucumber, eaten in the shade of the vine on a hot day when you\u2019re working hard in the dirt\u2013that must have been a really refreshing treat.<\/p>\n

2. The Book of Ruth.<\/a><\/strong> (What?!) Yes, Ruth. Ruth, the ancestress of David and ultimately of Jesus, was a Moabite\u2013a foreigner in Israel who met and exceeded all standards of kindness and generosity. And Boaz, her benefactor, did the same\u2013though \u201claw\u201d only required him to let her take from the edges of the field, he instructed his field hands to leave out plenty of good grain for her to take. Both gave more than they *had* <\/strong>to. The result? Blessing, love, fulfillment; a respite from famine and exile.<\/p>\n

3. (Ok, I lied, 3 things)\u2013that God makes all things grow<\/a>. <\/em>Yeah, I fertilized, planted, mulched, weeded, watered, and fretted and prayed over my plants, but beyond all of this, there is a mystery that\u2019s way beyond me. And it just doesn\u2019t feel right to hold that too tightly.<\/p>\n

Can I love my neighbor and begrudge him a cucumber? Who\u2019s the impoverished one then? Me.<\/em> So I do this with some of my cucumbers\u2013\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

and give some away, and leave some on the vines for the work crew. Because I\u2019m a \u201cgood person\u201d? No. Because I want the joy that comes from holding the mystery lightly, and giving freely from what\u2019s been given to me. Because THAT fills me with joy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Which makes the cucumbers\u2013and pickles\u2013taste even better.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our little garden has produced plenty of cucumbers this year, though they\u2019re drawing to an end now. We\u2019ve been eating lots of them just like this: Because a truck crashed through our yard\u00a0a few weeks ago, there have been plenty of work \u2018guys\u2019 (as my kids refer to them) in and around the garden recently. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2070,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,26,39,44,47,57,59,61,64,76,85],"tags":[2658,511,961,2698,1328,1343,2686,2045],"class_list":["post-208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-connecting","category-faith","category-food","category-gardening","category-joy","category-justice","category-local","category-north-fork-long-island","category-preserving","category-summer","tag-bible","tag-christianity","tag-food-preservation","tag-gratitude","tag-joy-2","tag-justice-2","tag-poverty","tag-sharing"],"yoast_head":"\nCucumbers, Pickles, & Immigrants<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our little garden has produced plenty of cucumbers this year, though they're drawing to an end now. We've been eating lots of them just like this: Because\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cucumbers, Pickles, & Immigrants\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our little garden has produced plenty of cucumbers this year, though they're drawing to an end now. We've been eating lots of them just like this: Because\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rachel Marie Stone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-17T09:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/files\/2011\/08\/dsc_0054.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel Marie Stone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel Marie Stone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/\",\"name\":\"Cucumbers, Pickles, & Immigrants\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-17T09:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-08-17T09:00:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/c46cec1db7f3461f4f3d5289c79a2a8c\"},\"description\":\"Our little garden has produced plenty of cucumbers this year, though they're drawing to an end now. We've been eating lots of them just like this: Because\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cucumbers, Pickles, & Immigrants\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/\",\"name\":\"Rachel Marie Stone\",\"description\":\"Faith, Family, Food; Justice & Joy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/c46cec1db7f3461f4f3d5289c79a2a8c\",\"name\":\"Rachel Marie Stone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f7954612ad2a50609d3ed20d73a790f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f7954612ad2a50609d3ed20d73a790f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rachel Marie Stone\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/author\/rstone\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cucumbers, Pickles, & Immigrants","description":"Our little garden has produced plenty of cucumbers this year, though they're drawing to an end now. We've been eating lots of them just like this: Because","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cucumbers, Pickles, & Immigrants","og_description":"Our little garden has produced plenty of cucumbers this year, though they're drawing to an end now. We've been eating lots of them just like this: Because","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/","og_site_name":"Rachel Marie Stone","article_published_time":"2011-08-17T09:00:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/files\/2011\/08\/dsc_0054.jpg"}],"author":"Rachel Marie Stone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rachel Marie Stone","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/","name":"Cucumbers, Pickles, & Immigrants","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-08-17T09:00:48+00:00","dateModified":"2011-08-17T09:00:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/c46cec1db7f3461f4f3d5289c79a2a8c"},"description":"Our little garden has produced plenty of cucumbers this year, though they're drawing to an end now. We've been eating lots of them just like this: Because","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/2011\/08\/17\/cucumbers-pickles-immigrants\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cucumbers, Pickles, & Immigrants"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/","name":"Rachel Marie Stone","description":"Faith, Family, Food; Justice & Joy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/c46cec1db7f3461f4f3d5289c79a2a8c","name":"Rachel Marie Stone","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f7954612ad2a50609d3ed20d73a790f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f7954612ad2a50609d3ed20d73a790f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rachel Marie Stone"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/author\/rstone\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2070"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rachelmariestone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}