Delivery
On one of my first ocean deliveries as crew we approached the coast of California, still a few days out, but close enough to anxiously begin our calculations of when we would arrive, and of course what food we would first eat. As we played this numbers game to pass our time the conclusion continued to arrive at about 2 AM. I remember my skipper sharing with us an old wives tale that he alleged to always come true - sailing is like having babies they both arrive in the middle of the night.
In a few weeks I take the weekend off and help a new boat owner deliver his winter prize from South Haven to Leland, MI. I have logged thousands of sea miles on boats designed almost exactly like this one and I felt quite at home during my original inspection a month back, but this will be the first time I have captained with the owner onboard as crew. Deliveries are on my mind. My brother in-law helped his wife deliver their new baby boy a few weeks back adding yet another grandboy to a family already full of little men. But this was the first for their family and we impatiently watched Facebook fill with excitement. My wife is obviously pulling at her lines for a quick trip east to visit the new little guy.
With this being our first week of food sales, deliveries are everywhere. Monday our Mobile Market is in Niles, Tuesday - Berrien Springs, Wednesday - Buchanan and Benton Harbor, Thursday -all over the county with our CSA, and Friday - back to Benton Harbor. Deliveries have become our niche; along with the influence of heath it is beginning to separate us from the norm. My guys who run all this are sending me emails talking about Sunday trips as well. I guess a full time job isn’t enough for them. But that’s good. We live in a world where milk deliveries have been replaced with pizza deliveries, and Santa’s slay has been usurped by Amazon and FedEx. To rekindle the nostalgia of a bygone day and to break down the barriers for food accessibility our gardens now delivers literally all over the county. And we are proud to do it.
Towns, shopping trends, and general movement as a society, has changed over the last century. The turn of the twentieth century gave way to a modernism that permeated every aspect of our nation. With that, and many other factors, walkable towns disappeared. Folk trotting off to the grocery on foot in the evening just before dinner has been replaced by the big box store. Quality food access for the simple American without a car vanished like the dinosaurs. New Urbanism and the drive to bring back those days of walking and biking to work sparked back up in the mid 80’s as pushback to modernism and is still alive today. Many people I pass in my profession continue to support a political drive for bringing back the ability to rebuild a walkable town, even here in Berrien County. I often ask myself, in times of these overwhelming thoughts, are deliveries not a way to help that movement. If a small community can’t support a full time grocery, can we not bring one to them on an as needed basis? Is our mobile market, which fills the niche for those plagued with less access to good food, not also a niche for those who have access but choose to walk?
Ernest Hemingway once wrote “It is good to have an end to journey toward: but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” As I see it, deliveries are a journey. Not just in the delivery itself but in the opportunity or in the end. For each of the deliveries that fill my thoughts this week are full of the life - after. As great as crossing an ocean is, nothing beats the long overdue kiss of a loved one or a hot shower and dinner. As great is the anticipation of a new baby, nothing beats watching them grow up. And, as great is bringing food to our customers, nothing beats coming home to a basket full of green or the walk from your door, in the cool of a shady summer afternoon, to pick out veggies for yourself. The people you will pass, the sights and smells you will encounter, and the foods you will enjoy are the journeys Hemingway speaks of. Enjoy the journey.