05/11/2023
āThe rhubarb in the backyard is beginning the first stage of unfurling right now. That plant consistently amazes me. I love how it seems to completely disappear every year. Then it comes back in early spring, rising bigger and bigger, and growing more and more green with the warming sun and lengthening days. Most parts of the rhubarb plant are of no use to humans. Some summers, I harvest the edible stalks. Some years I donāt even bother. I never water that patch. I usually forget to augment the plot with compost. But it doesnāt seem to matter whether I tend to the rhubarb. Every year in April and May, that rhubarb will wake from a long winterās rest and start to grow bigger and stronger, providing shelter for local bunnies, and producing plenty of stalks I can convert into sweet treats if I put in the effort. I honestly donāt think I want to call this a metaphor. I prefer to think of the rhubarb as a concrete example of how to lead a consistent, robust, self-sufficient life.ā ~ Camille T. Dungy
