The time required

‘You can’t think that way’. Her words come back to me today as the big pot boils up pungent vinegar and spices – my forearms stickied with warm juicy bits of fruit peelings and tomato seeds.

Rewind 25 years or so. Mary-Katherine Finch and I were preparing for an early music recording, sharing our various time-management woes, and how long it takes to prepare for a recording session.

‘I’ve been practicing 4 hours a day for weeks, and then the group rehearsals and the recording sessions. If I do the math I’m being paid well beneath minimum wage for this job’ I said in a wining, entitled sort of tone, being the harpsichord player in the group.

‘You just can’t think of it that way’ MK, my baroque-cello-playing colleague replied.

She was right of course. The outcome of all that personal practice, ensemble rehearsals, and gruelling recording sessions was an endeavour that we could be proud of for many decades to come, and it was a privilege to be part of making music with those dedicated and skilled musicians.

I reflect on that moment many years afterward, in my kitchen, humbly struggling through a complex recipe passed down through the revered Mennonite Community Cookbook.

Far-fetched? Let me explain.

To make these 7 modest jars of Mrs. Martin’s fruit relish (from Conestogo Ontario) I devoted 4 hours this morning, peeling yellow pears, gorgeous Niagara peaches, and rich, red tomatoes from my very own urban garden, mixing with vinegar, sugar, spices and salt, and cooking – slowly (as the recipe requires) – for 2 hours. The trip to St. Jacob’s farmer’s market adds several hours to the project, as does growing the tomatoes from saved seeds since April, nurturing and transplanting them into my backyard. There are many hours of effort poured into those small Mason jars, but, as MK’s distant advice reminds me, I can’t think that way.

Although I am alone in my kitchen, save for the radio crackling out 96.3 classical FM above the drone of a large fan keeping the kitchen a tad cooler in this Ontario summer heat, I feel a connection to Mrs. Martin and her fabulous recipe, and all of those people who devote hours to creating things they are proud of – whether they are growing food in the field, working in the kitchen or on the concert stage. In the end the equation is simple – we spend the time required to produce the outcome we are happy with.