They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is true, I have sixteen thousand words I’d like to share with you this week. My intention is to let this beautiful produce speak for itself. Of course I do need to mention a few things first.

The Produce Department is a cornucopia right now of local, organic squash, potatoes, and other roots. The feast is almost here. All that is left is the preparation. Begin your planning now! The cranberries have now arrived. Maybe it could be fun to try out some of your cranberry recipes early. Why not cranberries all fall? We still have some figs left, too. This temptation will soon be gone, so enjoy them while you can! Also, we now have some mini kiwis that would make a fun snack. Finally, something special will be arriving this weekend and I’d like to comment upon it with an apt seasonal story.

Were you aware that at one point in time the Earth had only one season? Sure, according to the Greeks that is. It was always summer and the harvest continued forever. That was until the daughter of the Mother Goddess was abducted. When Demeter, the Goddess of nature and Earth, allowed her daughter to wander off to pick flowers, Hades, God of the Underworld, took this opportunity to steal away with Persephone to the underworld and make her his bride. It was at this point that summer ended and fall began as, in her sadness, Demeter refused to allow anything to grow.

Much later, well into winter, Demeter was able to ascertain what had happened to her daughter. Hermes was dispatched and upon the rescue of Persephone, it was learned that she had eaten from the fruit of the Underworld, the Pomegranate. It was only a little though, but this married her to Hades nonetheless and made her the Queen of the Underworld. It was determined by Zeus that she could spend part of the year with her Mother on Earth, but that she must also spend one month with Hades for every pomegranate seed that she ate. Her mother, Demeter, now mourns her daughter’s descent every year to the underworld and thus nothing is allowed to grow during Persephone’s time away. Persephone has also become the guardian of Death’s secrets and cannot share with anyone that which she has learned in the underworld.

An interesting twist to this tale is that of the role that Dionysus played in it. Due to Hera’s jealousy of her husband Zeus’ cheating ways, she had the Titans persue and destroy Dionysus, the illegitimate son of Zeus. Finding and retrieving the still beating heart of his son, Zeus transformed it into a pomegranate, which Hades fed to Persephone who then became pregnant. Dionysus was born again in the Underworld and later returned to live in the light among men as the God of wine, madness, and ecstasy. There is hope, even in the fall.