The Thrill of Cabbage

I’d paid my bill and was absent-mindedly putting away my credit card, preparing to leave, when an enlivened face suddenly loomed larger-than-life: “It’s YOU!  I can’t believe I’m meeting you HERE!”

Her entire being practically glowed. I sought to match her enthusiasm with a perky,  “Hi Anna (not her real name)!  So great to bump into you!”

“Oh…but you see…”  She scooted forward on her waiting room chair.  “I found organic cabbage!”  The words came out like a child’s gasp upon discovering an orphaned baby bird in the yard.  "So now…”

“…you can ferment sauerkraut!”

“Yes!  Oh YES!  Tell me how to do it…RIGHT NOW!”  She bobbed up and down in her chair, unable to sit still.

By this time I was laughing hard, about to split.  How many people have animated, spontaneous conversations like this in public?  Especially about cabbage? 

“I’ll call you this afternoon – will you be home?” I answered.

A wide grin covered her face, and her eyes twinkled like Santa’s.  “Later this afternoon.  That will be great!”

I met Anna last summer.  She’s about my age; her husband suddenly passed away on an ordinary day in the spring, about a year ago.  A month after his funeral she was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, a discovery that explained various compounding symptoms that had plagued her for years.

Over time, Anna’s digestive system has become ravaged by Lyme spirochetes.  At present she can eat only the most pristine foods, including select organic vegetables.  She is a scarecrow, slender down to the bone, and could benefit from a good source of pro-biotics.  We’d talked about fermented vegetables several times, but she lives over an hour away from my shopping venues and didn’t know where to find organic cabbage.  

But…today!  The day she’d been waiting for!  Her entire being said so!  A casual spectator to our meeting might have thought she’d won the lottery.  But her thrill, borne of anticipation over the potential for improved physical health, came from the purchase of the traditional poor man’s vegetable: one simple head of cabbage.

“…it is only in the crucible of scarcity that our heart’s deepest priorities are truly revealed.” – Deacon Joseph Gleason