One Day it Will Blossom

Last spring a gardener started a butternut squash plant from seed and planted it in the garden. One day it blossomed.
That blossom made a teeny, tiny, baby squash. Hello, little baby squash!!

Slowly, all summer long, that squash grew and grew. Late last summer it was finally big enough and ripe enough to harvest and bring inside.

It lived next to its cousin for a while. Then the cousin went to live with the ADG.


But the squash wasn't lonely because it had so many other friends to be near. Over the winter however, the squash noticed that some of its friends began to disappear. Often, one of them had grown a little soft, or maybe grew some mold and the next day they were gone. The squash didn't know what happened to them, but it had a sense that somehow they had fulfilled their destiny. And really yummy smells came from the kitchen whenever another one left.

The winter went on and on. The squash's friends left one by one. It was happy for them, but it wondered if it would ever have the chance to fulfill its own destiny.

Eventually the sun came back, the snow melted and the squash could hear the song birds through the open kitchen window. The squash was mostly alone by now. Somehow it managed to make it through the winter and well into spring with nary a soft spot, nor trace of mold. In fact the squash had never felt in better shape, but it stilled yearned to one day go where its friends had gone and fulfill its destiny.

The squash started to notice some interesting things going on around it. A big bag of organic soil moved in next door, along with pots. Those pots got filled with the dirt and out came packets of seeds. Little did the squash know that a full cycle of seeding, planting, nurturing, harvesting and storing was coming to a close and a new one beginning. That meant something very special was about to happen to the squash.

One day the squash got packed up and taken on a long trip to a cottage in the country. Fun things happened to it there. It spent some time on a swing.


It lounged on the deck by the water.
It got a lovely sun tan.

And even though there was still ice on the lake, the squash wanted to test the water.

Braving the icy temperatures, the squash went for a swim.

Soon, it drifted just a bit too far from shore,

and it started to panic.

Thankfully, a quick thinking bystander was able to help the squash out.

This near death experience caused the squash to reflect a little. The squash had lived a long time. Its life was full of meaning and rich experiences. But the squash yearned to go where all its friends had gone. The squash understood that the cycle of its life wouldn't be fully complete until then. It was ready to fulfill its destiny.

So you can imagine that it was with a sense of peace and contentment that the squash gave itself up to be made into this delicious recipe, that was thoroughly enjoyed by the ADG, friends and the gardener who planted the seed that grew into a squash.



And tucked carefully away in a small packet, are more seeds that came from the squash. In a few weeks the gardener will start a butternut squash plant from seed and plant it in the garden. With luck, one day it will blossom...