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Living a Dumpster Diver's Life by Judith Sackett December 7, 2006 Well folks, the pantrys just about full from summers harvested crops and we are working on the last cannings of pears to top off pantry shelves. In the coming week we will be getting pumpkin pie filling from our pumpkins ready for the freezer for those holiday pies. The folks at the Little Grocery Store supplied me with several boxes of ripened bananas yesterday so after the last of the pears are put on the shelves we will start making loaves of banana nut bread to freeze and to pass out to the neighbors. Did you ever notice how wasteful these grocery stores are? We can feed most of the world on what they throw out. I came across 3 big boxes of overripe tomatoes, 4 boxes of green beans, a box of corn on the cob, 6 boxes of winter squash and a box of heads of cabbage at the dumpster. There was also 3 cases of recently expired white kidney beans, mixed vegetables and small cans of tomato juice. All this Dumpster bounty called for a visit to the butcher in the store to see if he would donate some soup bones to the cause and sure enough he gave me a large box of the nicest beef bones to ever hit a pot of home made soup. The girls and I cleaned up the veggies, took out my four stock pots and made some of the most delicious beef vegetable barley bean soup this side of the Mid Atlantic. While the soup simmered on the stove all day we decided we would whip up a couple batches of Whole Wheat Bread and some apple-pear cobbler for dessert. Of course you know we called the neighbors and told them we were bringing them some nice home made soup for supper. It sure sounded mighty good to them since the temperature didn't get above 40 degrees all day. We brought 2 of the pots of soup, 12 loaves of bread and some donated cookies and cakes over to the local soup kitchen which I was told fed 90 families. Then we delivered steaming containers of soup, bread and cobbler to 4 neighborhood families and Farmer Jack and his wife Bessie joined us at home to share our bounty. We fed over 120 people from those few boxes of veggies, beans and soup bones. In our travels during the week we came across a small table, a couple of wood stools, some Christmas Decorations and a whole box of lined paper tablets that was a blessing. We are always running out of writing paper in our home. One of our boys bought a jacket at Sallys Dept Store for 5 dollars and when he got it home, checking the pockets he found a hundred dollar bill inside a tear that was in the pocket. We were all surprised at his great windfall. He wanted to give it to his dad and I but we told him it was his money to do with what ever he wanted to do with it. Needless to say we were very proud of him when he donated it to an African Missionary Priest who was visiting our church after talking to this priest. We had taken our children to hear Paul Rusesabagina ( of the movie Hotel Rwanda Fame) speak at our local University Thursday Evening and this mans spirit touch all our souls. He spoke of the Rwandan Genocides and todays Darfur Sudan Genocides and ethnic cleansing of Sudanese besides the horrible poverty in that country. We all realized how lucky we are blessed with so much but at the same time our hearts ache for those who have nothing and are faced with the pitfalls of poverty, dictatorship and even death. While you're out diving this week, even if you're not a God believing person just offer up a few words that a higher power will intervene in the horrors happening around the world today. Stay Safe Divers. About the author: I'm a 53 year old English and History Major on sabbatical from school at the moment. I'm a published poet of silly little ditties and a writer of the simple word. I have been active in city government participating in our City Council Meetings. I am an advocate for Children's Safety against Sex Predators, A former volunteer at organizations that feed the poor and homeless, Still active in that aspect of life but in my own way. I'm just a mom too which is the greatest accomplishment I could ever do in my life! | | | |
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