Dread of Circumcision, Dreams of Cabbage

Daytime was too hot to work. Ali and I planted the seedlings under the bright full moon. I put on my winter gloves first and then wore plastic bags on top of them secured with rubber bands. Having this protection against tetanus, I spread the entire mountain of manure carefully with my own hands around each seedling. A light rain for the next two days helped the seedlings take hold while I rested my sore back. Those two thousand or so cabbage seedlings gave me such a great hope. As they used to say then, “Man, it was groovy!”

Weeks went by. It was a good season; the cabbage grew rigorously. There was less damage than I expected from birds, sheep, donkey, insects and people. Each visit to the farm brought me closer to my fortune and gave me more joy.

Winter was approaching. I asked Ali when to harvest. He stared at the gray clouds on the horizon trying to read an invisible date. After a long pause, he mumbled, “Two more weeks. It will weigh more. More money.”

Two weeks later, on a cold day, I went back to the farm for the harvest. On the way, I prepared myself mentally for the inevitable confrontation with the local deputy. Riding on horseback relaxed me. When I arrived, Ali looked gloomy. He muttered, “Frost last night. Your cabbage is now garbage.”

And just like that, all my dreams of financial freedom turned into financial ruin. I kept cursing myself, “Why did you listen to Ali? Why did you not harvest your cabbage one day earlier? Why? You idiot!”

I remembered my uncle’s words nine years prior, “It does not hurt!” Yes, it hurt tremendously that I had wasted my circumcision on this pile of garbage.

It took another six years to overcome this humiliation. At age twenty, hippies from the West were traveling to the East. I went in the opposite direction. I came to Canada. I enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Toronto. On the weekends I drove a taxi.

Finally, I was free from my father’s allowance.

My brother trying to feed a stray cat hidden in the bush, 1966. My cabbage turned into garbage but the view was spectacular.