As planned, Lisa and I had breakfast at one of her favorite haunts. She asked me if I wanted to go with her to make homemade applesauce at the home of her Amish neighbor Mary.

For many years, making and canning applesauce had been an autumn tradition for Lisa and for Mary’s mother, who passed away a few years ago. Now it’s Lisa’s and Mary’s tradition.

This is so Lisa. She is not only a speech therapist at local schools, but also a busy wife and mother of two. She is up at the crack of dawn cleaning out stables, but still finds time to share with others and takes time with her friends, including me, who benefit greatly from her groundedness.

I thought to myself, “Oh, I will go for a half-hour to see how they do it.” After all, I had so much to do that day: housecleaning, highlighting my hair, bill-paying ...

It’s common for me, on my days off, to get wrapped-around-the-axle about my Never-ending List of Things to Do. I think Lisa knows this.

Upon entering Mary’s house, we could see she was in full swing with her own housekeeping. Mary is 25; she and her husband are the parents of three adorable children, two boys, 4 and 3, and a 5-month-old girl. Her husband works the farm, which includes dairy cows, chickens and a tobacco crop. They also grow produce and flowers, which they sell at a stand in front of their house.

Mary is one busy woman and she doesn’t even have a car, electricity, phone or a computer. Yet, unlike me, she seemed so calm; in a peaceful rhythm with her Never-ending List.

Lisa and I helped pitch in with some of the housework while Mary finished her laundry with her gas-powered wringer washer.

We quartered what would be five bushels of apples and then boiled them in huge pots on the gas stove. We took turns processing the resulting mush through a hand-crank food strainer. After that, Mary added sugar to the strained apples and she and Lisa put them into Mason jars, which they then boiled in a huge canner. Meanwhile, I helped out by washing pots and pre-washing the Mason jars that had been stored in the attic all summer.

During all this, we took a break for lunch and had a moment of silence before and after our meal. I felt blessed for the day. No way was I going to give up any of this time with them to deal with my Never-ending List, which now seemed so diminished.

I ended up staying the entire five hours, during which time I allowed myself to live in the moment, to enjoy the sense of accomplishing something in sync with two wonderful women.

Thanks, Lisa and Mary. Hope to see you at Mary’s house same time next year.


Patricia Poist is a staff writer for the Living section. Write to her at: ppoist@lnpnews.com. blog comments powered by Disqus