Many years ago, a friend gave me a fresh baked homemade pound cake on an old plate. It was not an antique plate, just a brown burly plate that no longer belonged to a set. She told me to keep the plate and use it the next time I baked a person a cake, and that way I would not have to worry about getting one of my good plates back.
I seldom bake and for good reason. Passing along any of my baked goods would not be quite the joyous event this amazing pound cake brought to my family. But it did trigger a great idea that I recently came across in my Southern Living magazine.
There was an entire article about passing things along to friends and family. This could be fresh rooted cuttings in random old pots, so the pots did not have to be returned. Or old containers housing leftovers that could be washed and reused to pass along. And yes, an old plate to put baked treats on for friends. It was a crafty idea this writer had stumbled upon that created a great little article. But my friend Kathy had cornered the market on this vision many moons before.
Since that day I have kept old plates to pass along baked goods that have been baked and given to me. Marvelous idea to share calories with fellow neighbors. We can pass that along happily. I have kept jars to put leftovers in to send on with the boys. And recently I have begun to collect the pots and try to root much of what grows crazy in my yard. It falls right in line with my most recent love of thrifting and finding ways to reuse things that have been discarded.
One of the most recent gifts I have come across with fellow gardeners is the joy of passing along seeds they have harvested. Old scraps and pieces of earth dust in tiny tins or bags that when sprinkled upon the moist soil will shoot up in brilliant bursts of color in random places in my yard.
I have had preserves passed my way from family gardens and friends collected produce. All the bounty a season can bring is cooked, cooled, jarred, and preserved for future days to enjoy with loved ones.
I love scrounging through what people have discarded as they have likely cleaned out homes of loved ones. Those tiny trinkets, ceramic bowls, ornate wall hangings that over the years have lost the story which had once been attached to them causing a person to ever own them in the first place. Now these once-tossed items will be passed along to people who will create a connection and a story of their own. "That's the book Mom left when she house-sat for us when we went on that great trip to Miami." Or at least that is my hope for all the treasures I pass along their way.
I think that the greatest part of enjoying the art of passing things along is that it is not just material things we are passing from one home to another, or one hand to another. It is the smile we pass on. It is the warm feeling of being thought about. It is love in the intention to take something special we hold and pass it on to allow a lifeless material item to take on a shared expression of community.
And in saying this, I happily pass this column on to you to receive and share with fellow friends. Writers are the greatest pass-along-people of all. And our words being received are the blessing and I have some seeds and mason jars if needed.
