The month of May is strawberry season in North Carolina. Lots of them and they are delicious.
This morning, 22 October, when I went to the barn to do chores, I noticed we had our first frost of the season. As I was opening a gate to go out into the horse pasture, I noticed one, lone, small, red wild strawberry. I picked it and before eating it, a thought occurred to me. That little berry was tough enough to bloom and mature in spite of the season and the cold.
That is sort of a metaphor for life. If you are tough enough you can bloom and mature in spite of abnormal, adverse conditions.
Tens of millions of Americans are currently disadvantaged and I’m sure many of them feel desperate to improve their lives. Well, maybe this is the time to do just that.
A disproportionate number of the disadvantaged are African Americans. Currently, African American unemployment is the lowest since records have been kept.
The upcoming election may actually be a national referendum on the two political party’s philosophies; big government vs less government intrusion, stifling regulations vs private sector innovation, government hand-outs vs a helping-hand.
The above article was first published just before the mid-term elections in 2018. Yesterday, 1 November, 2024, I found three lonely, small, red wild strawberries.
Don’t under-estimate American grit. Given a chance there are a lot of out-of-season “strawberries” out there among we-the-people that are just tough enough to bloom in spite of the odds and be all they can be/should be.
Go vote. make change happen
Marv Covault
Yes, and to build on your profound observation, the apparent “seeds” on the outside of the strawberry are called achenes. As I understand it, from my limited knowledge of the subject, achenes themselves somehow hold more “potential” fruit inside them. So, we are the visible achenes, carrying within us the fruits of freedom. For every one of us that bloom bravely amid inclement weather there are innumerably more waiting to bud, bloom and bear fruit when given the impetus. I would say there is plenty of impetus these days. To vote is to nurture more fruit. To vote is to propagate freedom.
Nick….very inciteful, thanks
marv