It was humorous to watch the antics of my daddy as he jumped
up, as quickly and unsteadily as most 90 year olds, from the dining room table
to grab a string hanging through the window. He began jerking the string and asking mamma
if she saw anything flying out of their fig tree. I couldn’t help but ask what
they were doing. Daddy said he was determined to scare the redbirds away from
his figs. He had tied a piece of an old wind chime to the end of the string in
the fig tree. When he pulled the string the chimes rang in the tree. I moved to the window and noticed that he had
tied strips of black plastic to the string where it stretched across the yard
to the fig tree. He said he had to put the plastic ties on the string so no one
would run into it. I think the birds
only temporarily leave the fig tree long enough to fly over to the corn daddy
has put out for the doves. When they are full of their vegetable, they fly back
over for their fruit. Only daddy could
grow a twenty foot tall fig tree twenty five foot across filled with beautiful
plump ripe figs and redbirds. I was blessed with sweet figs for supper.
V1 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in
the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of
mockers. V2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he
meditates day and night. V3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he
does prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3 NIV Life Application Study Bible
Daddy called about 8:30 PM Saturday night to let me know he
could not go to church Sunday morning. I asked if he was sick since he never
missed church. He said he had to pick the figs. I told him to plan to go to
church and I would pick the figs. At about 7 AM Sunday morning, I began picking
figs and it wasn’t long before my husband came with his helpful hands and
several buckets. We went up under the branches, stretched limbs down for each
other to pick and after about an hour, we had four gallons of figs. I knew to take them on home with me so mamma
would not feel she had to start stemming them. We were both drenched with sweat
from the high temperature. I quickly went into the kitchen and salted fresh tomatoes
for Sonny and myself. That helped replenish and refresh us. I washed each fig,
carefully sorting any that seemed to ripe or green then placing them single
layer on towels to dry while we went to church. I called mamma to let her know
we would be by at our usual time to pick up daddy. I told her about the
beautiful figs and that I would prepare them after church for freezing. She
asked if I thought I would have time to help her prepare the ripe tomatoes for
freezing. Of course, I said, “Yes” without hesitation. Church was a blessing and I thought of how blessed
I am to have aged parents who are still so capable and desiring of taking
advantage of the bounty God willing provides.
Preparing tomatoes had to meet with mamma’s expectation. She
wanted to peel them all. I suggested that I boil water in which to submerge the
tomatoes long enough until the skin began to pop. She insisted on helping even
though she was struggling as usual to breath. I suggested that she and daddy
sit at the table where I would plunge the boiled tomatoes in ice water and she
could wear her oxygen while peeling off the skin. She agreed and we began the
assembly line. Actually, I think everyone was enjoying themselves as we
steadily worked through the ripe red harvest of three varieties of tomatoes.
After about an hour, I squeezed the large bowl of tomatoes, removing any tough
centers or green remnants. The bowl was soon full of enough prepared tomatoes
to fill six freezer bags with 2 ½ cups each. Mamma and daddy smiled as they looked at the
tomatoes placed into the freezer.
There are many days when I feel incapable of pleasing my
parents when I must run to the arms of my Lord Jesus for comfort and
reassurance. Today I feel that I have
done my very best to show my love to them and I feel good about the results.
v.
4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself
without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own
load.” Galatians 6: 4-5 NIV Life Application Study Bible
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