An everyday job

Stan Costa grew things. His everyday day was a little odd for a man of fifty, but he came by it honestly. Trained and field tested Stan Costa was also Stan Costa Ph. D. Doctor of Botany in his other life. No longer a strictly nine-to-five guy,  retired from the lecture hall and microscope Stan was a paid apprentice with the small and beautiful Moon Light Farm. Being late by an hour meant Bonnie and Mo would be in the fields harvesting for the Farmers' Market that started at 1 o'clock that afternoon. The sound of his Harley popped their capped heads up from pulling globes of Turnips and Candy Cane Beets. "Lover Boy's back." Mo Frank couldn't resist a long slow whistle in Stan's direction. For a grown man, blushing came easily.

"Sorry Bonnie, Mo. Lost track of the morning," Stan was still pink about the cheeks, speckled with stubble and yawning from lack of coffee. The caffeine could wait, and the women knew who he'd gotten lost with, and they approved.

"How's Dumpling Woman?" Mo asked her hands rich with dark earth.

"Lucky," chimed Bonnie. It was no secret there was more than a little envy in her. If she'd been smarter Bonnie could have been Mrs. Stan Costa years ago. Stan pretended not to hear that and moved to the circles of corn entwined with Scarlet Runner Beans. The beans were prime size for picking, just passed nibbling stage these would be delicious steamed whole or snapped and sauteed in butter and served with the Salmon just being caught from the beach.

Bushels for harvest were already set out on the benches. Stan ran his hands gently over and under the large heart-shaped leaves. "Morning girls. Nice work on the fruit. Very nice." The beans were almost six inches long and plump. "Thank you." Before all else Stan Costa always made time to remember everything in this world he was grateful for. Though he was an hour late for his day job, the Thanksgiving Address did come before all else.

Mo and Bonnie stopped their harvesting. The habit of gratitude was something they weren't facile with. They had a feeling it would grow on them. Bonnie noticed the effect after Stan had been growing things the first season. "A thirty-five pound Watermelon! (Won the Blue Ribbon at the County Fair) Turban Squash (Ditto on the ribbon) the size of a small cooler. Beans and Corn that grew with no loss to the aphids or borers," just to remember a few. While Bonnie and Stan were graduate students at Evergreen College Stan Costa was already growing the thesis that companion planting like the original Three Sisters style of First People gardening was a botanical and ethnological story he wanted to know intimately. His Portuguese and Hawaiian Ancestry bred curiosity and exploration, but more than that Stan Costa had the genetic memory of respect in tact.

Fifteen years later, in the dirt of the Moon Light Farm Bean and Corn witnessed, and listened. Stan began with recognizing the two women. Appreciating them, giving them thanks and ending by catching the women's eyes asking for their ascent. "Now our minds."  

The Thanksgiving Address was long. Stan left no one out. It was THE uncompromising requirement he made for his apprenticeship. During planting and harvest times Stan worked willingly and consistently for $11.00 an hour, and took one full day a week off. Long hours didn't wear him down, weather didn't wear him down. He was used to work. But always, every day, before all else the Words That Came Before All Else began his day.