On Earth Day, we celebrate all the gifts the world and nature make available to us. We recognize our complete dependence on its bounty. And we acknowledge the need for good stewardship to preserve its fruits for future generations. ~ John Hoeven
During that summer–
Which may never have been at all;
But which has become more real
Than the one that was–
Watermelons ruled.
~ Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle,
John Tobias
The Weekly Photo Challenge is Reflections.
The season of watermelons is upon us in Nicaragua. My neighbor gifts us with a watermelon daily.
Read on. More reflections.
The weekly photo challenge is all about lunchtime. Check out the weekly photo challenge HERE. All of the photos, except the vegetable truck, were taken with my new-to-me iPhone 3Gs. It’s lunchtime on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua! Everyone helps to prepare lunch, the largest meal of the day for a Nicaraguan family.
The vegetable truck comes to our door every Friday. We choose the freshest veggies, all homegrown on the island.
Don Jose, our 78 year young neighbor, hacks away at our fallen tree with his machete. Our neighbors need firewood to prepare lunch.
Stephen gathers our sweet mangoes, while his grandfather cuts firewood. The mangoes will make a tasty dessert.
Meanwhile, Dustin snacks on a juicy jicote, similar to a plum. ( I had to retouch this photo. Dustin wasn’t wearing any underwear or pants. jeje)
Our chickens wait in line to lay eggs under the pollo grill. We never lack fresh eggs around the finca.
Rafaela isn’t neglected either. She’s neighing for a fresh carrot from the vegetable truck.
Black Jack, one of our three rescue kittens, inspects our produce. “Anything good to eat here?”
The avocados will have to wait for tomorrow’s lunch. They aren’t quite ripe. But, the tangerines are ready!
Don Jose stokes the fire. Lunch is almost ready. “Hora de amorzar?” the kids ask.
Lunch is almost ready. A big pot of gallo pinto, a fresh egg omelet, and lots of handpicked fruit. Everyone helps prepare lunch in Nicaragua. It’s my favorite time of the day, the hora de almorzar.
There is no boon in nature. All the blessings we enjoy are the fruits of labor, toil, self-denial, and study.~ William Graham Sumner
Ha! Obviously, Mr. Sumner never lived in the tropics when the mangoes are ripe. I think I’ve developed post traumatic stress syndrome from the boon of mangoes dropping on our tin roof. The only toil I am experiencing is shoveling the sickeningly sweet, insect infested mangoes into a pit in our front yard.
There is definitely a boon of fruit at our place. I feel pangs of guilt each time I dump wheelbarrows heaped with rotten fruit into the ‘fruit pit’. Completing the major construction of our house and the guesthouse, I’m going to have to concentrate on enjoying the fruits of our labor.
Between shoveling fruit and pounding nails, I have had a little window of time to make Mango jam, Key Lime pies, fruit smoothies, and Pera pies, cobblers, and sauce (These fruits taste amazingly like apples). I hope to share with you my collection of “Recipes of the Third World Kind” or a better title would be “Fruits Gone Wrong”. In the meantime, enjoy the slide show of the variety of fruit trees on our property called, The Fruits of Labor..the sweetest of all pleasures.
