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Happy Go Stuckey

Tethering Grace & Togetherness

A letter to an inanimate establishment

March 20, 2009 by HappyGoStuckey 3 Comments

Dear Produce Stand,

All through the cold, long winter I have cast forlorn glances in your direction as I drove by a hollow empty booth wherein no life was present. No beautiful bins of brightly colored fresh vegetables and fruits. No long wooden table of bright red tomatoes and bountiful piles of onions and potatoes. No smiling person to greet me as I step out of my car and approach your small open air establishment. Nothing but empty shelves and hollow buckets. For months I have made particular trips to specialty stores just to purchase over-priced vegetables flown clear across the world that weren’t always that great. Let’s be clear, I appreciate having a tree-ripe nectarine flown in from Chile just for me in January. I enjoy my little “Market of Fresh” with its tiny shopping carts and classical music. And I would much rather pay a little more for good produce in the winter from said Market rather than buy sub-standard veggies from a grocer who does not care one bit if my produce will begin to go bad the moment I step out of the store. But let’s face it, Produce Stand, there is absolutely no substitute for what you offer my family during the warmer months. You offer convenience. You offer excellent value. You offer the satisfaction of making pleasant conversation with the other patrons. Conversations which lead me to believe, I am not the only one in Wake Forest who loves you and your fresh vegetables.

That being emoted, I cannot convey the over-whelming elation which my heart felt when I drove past you this week to see that you were finally open for the first time. Your bins were no longer empty and hollow, but were overflowing with abundant fruit and veggie goodness. Of course I stopped immediately and pulled into your gravel parking lot.

I say “parking lot.”

It’s really just the area between you and the interesting aquarium store which is utilized as a parking area. Perhaps that is some of what I love about you. The sound my tires make as I drive over the rocks and hop out. It’s charming and very small-town. But, I digress.

I walk towards you, trying not to reveal my utter excitement to the woman behind the register. There are those trusty plastic grocery bags, hanging from a nail, blowing in the breeze. I pull one down and begin selecting my purchases for the day. (I say “the day” because I definitely came back a few days later.)

I would like to say “Thank you” Produce Stand. Thank you for making it possible to feed my husband and my unborn child beautiful, local fruits and vegetables without taking out a small loan. Perhaps I felt your emptiness more keenly this winter, as I was craving fruits and vegetables all during these last 7 months of pregnancy. But as we have known so well and hopefully do cling to in these economic times, I recited to myself this too shall pass. And thankfully, so did Winter. Welcome Back and Happy Spring, Produce Stand.

Recession Proof Meals Part I
Wordless Wednesday

Comments

  1. Brian says

    March 22, 2009 at 1:17 am

    THE PRODUCE STAND IS OPEN!??Btw, if you ever go to the wake forest farmer’s market, look for us there soon. I think we are going to try selling our homemade goodies. Starbucks. You. Know. What. I’m. Talking. About. Missy.–Bonnie

    Reply
  2. Derek and Amanda says

    March 23, 2009 at 4:53 pm

    very nice…very nice!! lol!! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Matt and Laura Lawson says

    March 26, 2009 at 6:50 pm

    Ah yes, I loved that produce stand! Your blog entry took me back! And in another week or so the Strawberry Patch will be open for picking! I love Spring!!

    Reply

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I'm Cynthia and I'm so glad you're here. I am an introvert with an extrovert's love of gathering people together. I love good books and capturing moments. Whether you visit me here or on my own front porch, I'll be the one holding the Iced Coffee for us both.

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Throwing it back but not way back: remember last y Throwing it back but not way back: remember last year when we *discovered* the whipped, frothy, goodness of Dalgona Coffee?

I made it again today for the express purpose of seeing if it would still work with less sugar and I rather like my lightened up version!

(Tip: in my opinion, it makes enough for two— especially because I use instant espresso— so it’s pretty strong! Not warm where you are yet?  Tap the little flag to save this post for later.)

✨Whipped Coffee✨ 
2 TBS. instant espresso
2 TBS. cold water
1 TBS. maple syrup or simple syrup
1-2 glasses of ice and milk

Whip/ Beat the espresso, syrup, and water with an electric beater, immersion blender, or hand-held milk frother until frothy and light in color. Scoop over the milk and ice and enjoy!
🪡Do I seamstressed to you?🪡 Really though, 🪡Do I seamstressed to you?🪡 

Really though, after completing my first embroidery project, I feel like it might just be the cheapest, prettiest, stress relief out there. I am officially a believer in relaxing this way. And PS, if I can do it, you can.

Thank you, @thebarmyfox for bringing this lovely art into my life!
Joy is the courage of people who don’t have all Joy is the courage of people who don’t have all the answers, yet.

While you sit in a season of waiting,
the calendar can often be a cruel companion, reminding you that days go by, weeks, months— with what feels like very little change in the right direction.

Perhaps you can easily assent to: 
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but you strain to see just how it will be when: “...a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12)

Wherever you and I are today— whether we wander, wait, stand firmly planted, or some pressed together combination of all three — we can take heart.

We are not alone.
And this will not be wasted.
What seems to be an unending blank space, an indefinite pause, is a space for new things.

Long before all is made right, and whether or not it all is tied up neatly with a perfectly crafted bow— we can know this:

We do not have to know the outcome to be faithful today.

✨Joy is not disregard for reality as much as it is obstinacy against despair.✨
Hi 👋🏻 I’m Cynthia and I’m a bit weary. T Hi 👋🏻 I’m Cynthia and I’m a bit weary. There. I said it. These days I’m gravitating to the true & the beautiful as rest for my weary self... and I wonder if you are too.

So much so, that I’m starting a new little offering, it’s called “The Feast: Wonder for the Weary” and the first issue goes out this weekend. It’s a bit more personal (okay this first one is WAY more personal. 🤭) It will be a little bit of everything, all with the goal of offering REST to both the feasters & foragers alike. If you’re already a subscriber— no need to do anything, if not— click through my bio to “keep in touch” and join the feast.✨
We are a people of both lament and praise. We hol We are a people of both lament and praise.

We hold questions without answers— yet we hold them in hands already full of good things.

We hold our daily bread, our daily gifts, and we hold the daily closeness of the God Who Sees.

The God who is no stranger to our lament, and Who Is the reason for our every hope.
He does not grow weary of our asking. Of our need to be told again, He will. 

You friend, are not invisible.
You are seen and cared for by the God who does all things well. (Even when they feel anything but.)
Married love ambition: making the kids roll their Married love ambition: making the kids roll their eyes at our “gushy-ness” as often as possible. 

President & CEO of the Lance Stuckey Fan Club— in every season, but especially on days like today.
Rainy day Mocha date, courtesy of our own toasty k Rainy day Mocha date, courtesy of our own toasty kitchen.😍🌧📚

On this chilly Saturday, we spent entirely too long browsing for books at our library and then all came home to a fire, mochas, and cocoa, respectively. Of all the things we do not know at this very moment, we know the gifts abound, and are worth counting.

PS, if you haven’t spread whipped cream on a foil-lined baking sheet to freeze, and then cut out cute shapes with cookie cutters to top your coffee or hot cocoa, may I suggest you get thee on that at once.
“If God sends us on strong paths, we are provide “If God sends us on strong paths, we are provided strong shoes.” — Corrie Ten Boom

✨File under, things to save in a fire.✨

The prayer journal pictured here contains six months of the hard & the sweet.
Six months of prayers asked & answered for ourselves and for others.
Six months of seeing through prayer, not how it changed our circumstances necessarily but how it changed us.

I always appreciate a record like this— being able to clearly see the paths we are led down, rocky though they may be? Priceless.

The ways God has come near us & drawn us to Himself again and again are written on these pages and I’ll treasure it forever.

Also pictured: Psalms Illuminated Scripture Journal. Highly recommend. Thank you always, @allifarnell
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it th “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

While scrolling through my photos today, my heart was heavy to realize how far back “before” was.

Before masks and distancing, before loss, before other, more personal bits of hard. Multitudinous change, neither all bad nor all good.

With our free time, we’ve introduced our girls to Tolkien, Bilbo, Frodo, and especially Samwise the Brave. They are officially hooked and we are delighted to watch them discover another world where evil doesn’t win, and the courage of the small matters much. {they close their eyes at the Orcs and we haven’t had a nightmare yet!}🤞🏻😂😬
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