Pear Sauce

It's been another week of distractions but I have managed to tend to the garden.  Spring is definitely making herself known this week in Austin and I can feel the vibration of new life all around me.  There is a quickening in my step when I am out and about and a sense of possibility percolating under my recent winter melancholy. 

We have a pear tree that we planted 6 or so years ago - I can't quite remember now.  Last year it bore tons of fruit for the first time and it was not strong enough to support it.  We had to prematurely pick 3 bushels of perfectly good fruit that didn't get to ripen gracefully and went to waste.  The weight of the fruit broke some of the branches, including one of the main ones.  Yesterday we decided to prune it back before the tiny buds that were starting to appear kicked into high growing gear.  Our friend David was here and with Chris's guidance we began selectively trimming long, graceful limbs and creating a tighter, stronger looking foundation for our little tree.  We ended up really going to town and wound up with a large pile of lovely pear branches that are waiting patiently for large brush day.  I was a little worried that we had gone too far and the tree would go into shock and shut down for the rest of the season. 

This afternoon I went out to do some weeding and there were these beautiful, green leaves on the remaining branches.  They were triple the size that they were yesterday, reaching and stretching as if they were in a yoga class.  I couldn't believe how much life seemed to be pumping their way, now that it wasn't being diverted in too many directions.  It's the same with our lettuce crop.  We have a tendency to plant too close together and when we finally pull one to make more room, the remaining adjacent heads explode and expand, thrilled to have the room to strut their stuff.

There's a lot to be said for a judicious use of energy.  Lord knows that I have way too many branches in my life and cram projects and activities too close together.  Perhaps as I start to cut back, prune and choose more carefully I'll find more life blood flowing to what remains.  Maybe I will begin to reach and stretch and bear just the right amount of fruit to be sweetly savored. 

(Coincidentally, we are eating pear sauce this week that Chris made from what he put up last year.  It's great to have a partner who has the forethought to do that.)