15 Comments
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20th Century Fox's avatar

“Goodness, how lovely is it that we can learn so much about what is inside ourselves and others from what surrounds us?” = exactly!!!!

Meditations On Permafrost's avatar

Wonderful. Thanks for sharing 🥒 🌊

Franky Dyson's avatar

Fantastic read

Wildwood Writer's avatar

Mary Oliver could have found a prayer inside a cucumber vine.

Kelly Hellmuth's avatar

There are some prayers growing…they are just not quite ready to pick. ❤️

Wildwood Writer's avatar

🖤🖤🖤

More Than Poetry's avatar

I hate cucumbers. A quarter of our acre garden was cucumbers growing on black plastic (I’ve a poem somewhere about this). As the youngest, it was my job to not only pick them, but then put them in the jars when we canned them. Tiny pickles are the best (the ‘Sunday pickles’), which meant picking tiny prickly cucumbers - and the leaves are itchy, esp when they still have dew on them. And the black plastic would be hot. One of my least favorite things to do as a farm kid.

But…now that the kvetching is out of the way, I’m so glad you’ve given me a new way to think about them in a positive self-growth way💛 I’ll always remember this…

Stone Wolf's avatar

I worked in a cucumber greenhouse for a few weeks when I lived in Hawaii. Before then, I had no idea what they were like in their pre-grocery store condition. It was fascinating to me because you actually have to wear gloves when you harvest them otherwise your hands will be full of all their pricklies. Even the vine itself is tough and full of little pokey things.

Cucumbers almost have a softness to them. Yes, they are crunchy. But not like a carrot. They are full of water- the softest element and yet arguably the most destructive over time. Oceans. Armor. Succulence.

I really love this.

Kim Williams, M.Div.'s avatar

Is there anything you haven't done? 😏

Kelly Hellmuth's avatar

Aren't they a strange delight? Quite a curiosity.

James (HVR)'s avatar

I've.... never thought that much of cucumbers?

I will now.

Kim Williams, M.Div.'s avatar

Quite the pickle.

Kelly Hellmuth's avatar

Glad to inspire! 😆

Sattie R's avatar

This was a delightful read. I did not know that cucumbers had spines.