A different kind of harvest

Over 500 versions of the Cinderella fairytale have been found. Popelka is the Czech version of this story. Popelka is a pretty maiden surrounded by greedy stepsisters. She works her father's farm and doesn't desire more than the simple things in life. Her fairy godmother is an owl and she grants her three hazelnuts. In the three nuts, Popelka found three dresses - one to go to the ball, one to challenge the prince in a hunting match, and the last was a wedding dress. She found everything she needed to change her life.

Last year, I harvested my first four little hazelnuts. This year my bushes produced about a dozen. None of the nuts contain any wishes, but they still bring satisfaction and anticipation. To open a hazelnut from the bush requires slowing down, peeling off the leaves, and removing the nut's shell for the meat inside. It's a process. Fall is my favorite season. The colors attract me. The cooling air calls me as I reach for a sweater. It's the clove of the seasons. It's a different kind of harvest that I am trying not to miss. I'm trying to slow down.

Lately, fall has arrived dressed in incredibly busy times. The past few years, I allowed the wants and needs of work and commitments to suffocate my enjoyment of the changes around me. This year seemed no different. I heard a great expression that I am going to cultivate this autumn. "Want what you have and need what you want." I have a dozen hazelnuts. I am more than happy with my little harvest. I cannot really bake anything with them. I cannot satiate my hunger with so few. But I can want exactly the hazelnuts that I have and not a single one more.

If more than the weather and amount of light is going to change, I need to nurture the will to want just what I have. This lesson of nature contains my three wishes and so many more.