Ratatouille

Several blogs ago, I introduced our attempts to grow a vegetable garden. In spite of ineptitude, and inexperience, (in the words of Herr Frankenstein) IT LIVES! This little botanical experiment has already surpassed our expectations. It is astounding what nature can do with just a modicum of assistance from mere mortals, like us.

Today, we became the beneficiaries of this miracle. We harvested three zucchini and 5 yellow squash. Though this is a very modest harvest, we danced with excitement as our treasures were whisked into the house. These were quickly dispatched into a most delightful dish, made famous by a recent Pixar movie, Ratatouille! Yes, we actually attempted, successfully, to create this delicious dish. Perhaps the best way to eat squash!

The wonders of a growing garden, the majesty of the open ocean, or the expanse of the cosmos, always overwhelms me with incredible awe, curiosity, and gratitude. In this season of remembering--the seeds of freedom sown into the rugged soil of a few determined visionaries--it is intensely appropriate to be thankful. Thankful for the order of the universe, from subatomic to galactic. We are the recipients of gifts, blessings, and wonders so magnificent, so precise, that nearly all of them remain unknown and undiscovered by human hands and minds!

This Nation and the principles that guide it, are as amazing and miraculous as the complexity of a nebula. Let’s remember to be grateful. When we eat from an elaborate buffet or a simple dish of Ratatouille, let’s take some time for amazement and gratitude. Gratitude for daily miracles like a perfect atmosphere on the third planet from the sun, a sun of just the right size, and rain, and seasons, that allow us the opportunity to pick squash from a small, insignificant vegetable garden.