A Great Miracle Happened

And more happen every day

I was walking down the street when I noticed how ruby red, lush and juicy the prickly pear fruits had gotten on my neighbor’s cactus. Julie told me how she had brought cuttings from Oaxaca as a young woman and has propagated the plants to neighbors all around. Julie taught me how to cook nopalitos, but because she dislikes the fruit in all forms, she refused any processed products in return. She did however, accept some chokecherry jam in return for harvesting her plants as much as I like.

You better believe I picked the heck out of those beauties, and cooked them up into the most delicious syrups, jams, and candies. The postman got some, my neighbors got some, and my friends and family probably got more than they wanted. I shared cases of mixer with my favorite bartenders, and loved the cocktail recipes they’ve cooked up with it.

Time passed, and there I was on Jenny’s farm, in chokecherry season, and I remembered that there was a tree on the ditch. I walked over and the neighbors’ dog started barking wildly until Adrienne came out to see what the fuss was about. I explained that I was picking chokecherries so I could give Julie some jam so I could pick her cactus and make more prickly pear yumminess. Adrienne showed me the motherlode near her home office, at the back of her big field. I never would have found that tree! The chokecherries were dark and luscious, staining my fingers as I filled my bucket. Adrienne laughed when I offered the prickly pear syrup in return, but her husband loved it. And Julie got more chokecherry jam and delicious chokecherry cordial.

Then the wild plums got ripe all up and down the Rio Embudo. Tiny, but sweet like candy. Jenny and Adrienne’s neighbor Jeannie hollered at me as I walked down the road with my trusty fruit pickin’ bucket. “I have so many,” she called, “I appreciate the fruit getting used!” So I picked up and down her ditch as she told me about the loves of her life: her late husband, her elementary students and her grown children who live far off but visit as much as they can. Lluvia and Maria heard I was picking Jeannie’s plums and asked, please could I pick theirs too? What a year for fruit!!

So Jeannie got plum wine in cute little Italian bottles, and all the ladies got jam and candies and hooch. And some of the plums got sugared, and some of the plums got baked into pastries. A lot of the plums just ended up right in my belly and I’m sorry to say I actually did the thing where I snuck around at night and left little baskets of plums by my neighbors’ doorsteps because there really were maybe too many. But as they say, nothing succeeds like excess, and who am I to close my eyes to such a bountiful gift?

And the world turned, and the seasons passed as they do. I woke up the morning of December 25th with not a single present nor holiday card nor a loved one by my side to wish me well. So I took my gifts from the golden summer and turned them into the Chanukkah delicacy, sufganiyot. Wild plum and chokecherry filled donuts, sprinkled with the plum infused sugar. My recently widowed friend got a plate, so did my recently divorced friend. My friend who is caring for her dad in hospice got one. My friends whose nests emptied out this fall. My friend who just got a pacemaker. New friends, old friends, friends I haven’t seen in a long while. Friends who were struggling and friends who were celebrating. Two dozen in total. It took all day, and I returned home exhausted and content.

I frequently fear for humanity, with so much anger and division and alienation and bitterness. But I’m learning that each act of kindness in this dark world acts as a stone thrown in a pond, with ripples expanding in extraordinary ways. A little friendship, a little sugar and the earth’s bounty, and a miracle happens. The light increases, the joy grows, and the community becomes stronger.

Thanks to all my subscribers for making this truly shit year a beautiful one! I don’t know why you do it, but I appreciate you!! May 2025 bring you daily miracles, increased joy, and delicious treats!