Wild Forests

Harvest

On the weekend, I made challah, spending most of Sunday kneading the silky, honey scented dough, and waiting for it to rise.  I plaited it into two loaves, and after they had risen, brushed them with egg yolk.  The oven transformed them into two darkly burnished loaves of woven bread.

I made bread a lot when I was at University, but I haven't done so since I began working.  I love the meditative rhythm of kneading, feeling the dough become silky and smooth under my hands.  In the absence of anything freshly harvested to include in the loafs, I used organic flour and free range eggs, thinking while I kneaded of the meaning of harvest.  We harvest what we sow - does this mean if we sow illadvised seeds in our life, then we harvest chaos?  Or does the word harvest imply only the useful, beneficial results of our actions? 

Harvest, for me, has positive overtones - but surely when examining what you have harvested in your life, you must also examine the illadvised harvests you have made.

Thankfully, I have no harvests that I regret.  While occasionally I have sown bitter talk only to reap it back, it was a learning experience.  This summer has been a time of family reconnection, of a growing confidence in myself (although that has been a theme of the past year), and a growing confidence in the strength of my relationship.  I am soon to be engaged, and that is a joyful harvest indeed.  

Everytime I bite into that honeyed bread, I think of the joy and strength of this summer.  May we all have such good harvests this year.

posted by Cee at 1:22 PM