Rice and Annapurna; The Full Circle That Sustainability Relies On

I've used this photo a couple of times in the blog, I think, but I love the picture. I worked a long side of this woman planting rice for a number of days and had a chance to listen to the story of her life in that time. She was amazing and brilliant like many of the other women I met and her story was similar to many I had heard in how she had almost been sold when she was in her early teens but had married instead. I told her my story and in the process mentioned Annapurna a few times. She had noticed that I looked up sometimes, towards the north, when I stood up to stretch after planting rice for long periods. She and others asked me what I expected to see and I said I wanted to see Annapurna and they reminded me I wouldn't be able to see it even if it was clear because it was far away and hidden behind other mountains. They were right but it didn't stop me from looking. Then, one day, this woman explained that she, too, wanted to see Annapurna. Annapurna to us means "full of food" she said. I was used to the usual translation of the name as "Goddess of the Crops" or variations of that. I like the "full of food" interpretation better. Then she told me that every morning when she gets up she goes out and looks for a flower blosson, basil is one she likes to use, and she puts it in a tiny, stainless steel vase she has, the size of a thimble, and places it on an alter in her home. The flower is for Annapurna, she said, and it brought tears instantly to my eyes. That's thinking sustainably.