Elul Day 11

Dear Elul Writers,

I have always had ambivalent feelings about the P.T. Barnum quote, “there is a sucker born every minute.” On the one hand, watching people stand in line to get an $18 donut or shell out $85 for a t-shirt, does seem to indicate an abundance of foolishness in the world. On the other hand, it isn’t nice to call people suckers.

Because of my mixed feelings on the nature of suckerhood, I was particularly delighted this year to learn about a different type of sucker. Volunteering at Emory’s Oxford College organic farm, I was tasked with de-suckering the tomato plants. The suckers are the new shoots that emerge at a forty-five degree angle between the main stem and the horizontal branches. These new side-shoots will increase the leafiness and fullness of the bush, which might sound like a good thing, but, in reality, decreases airflow, traps moisture, and increases the likelihood of blight. 

Additionally, the suckers mean that the plants are expending energy on putting out new branches and leaves instead of sending their sun-fueled energy to the fruits. More branches means less fruit. So, for the good of the tomatoes-to-be, I pinched off the suckers that were coming from every which way. The task was straightforward and actually satisfying in its simplicity. It was also the perfect reminder that in a world where we only have so much energy to expend, it is better to focus it on the aspects of ourselves that need the most attention.

Prompt

As she concludes her poem, Coming Up on September, Marge Piercy points to this season as a time when we are asked to consider:

What I have done and undone,

What I must let go with the waning days

and what I must take in. With the last

tomatoes, we harvest the fruit of our lives. 

I was so happy to come across this poem because it was both a validation of and a prooftext for comparing our lives to tomatoes. And, it also speaks to the universal decision we face of what we will “let go”of and what we will “take in.” We are tasked, as we prepare for the yamim noraim, these days of awe, with deciding where we want to focus our energy.  Sometimes that means cutting off the potential new directions we might otherwise take. What new growth might you be willing to de-sucker this year? More importantly, where would you like to direct your energy? Does letting go of a possibility or foregoing some new growth feel like it is necessary to see the results you desire?

Take care,

Jordan