Life Between the Questions
Back when I was in high school someone gave me a book called, “Life Between the Questions.” It is still one of my favorite books today. It taught me to never stop questioning. Wonder, that desire to know, to find answers, that stirring of curiosity, is often lost as we age. But it is those very questions that enlighten us, that bring us answers, or maybe even just more questions. Questions keep us learning, exploring, and finding joy in something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.
When my daughter suggested the name “Curiosity Untamed” for our program, I thought it described us perfectly. Curiosity and questions go hand in hand. How fast does a bee beat its wings? Where do Ugli fruits grow? Why does a ball bounce higher when it has more air in it? For many people, questions like these may pop into their heads, but rather than follow up and find the answers, they just shrug their shoulders and move on. Finding the answers when you have questions is not only fun, but inevitably leads to more questions. It is what keeps life interesting.
I love to use the Ugli fruit as an example. When I was homeschooling my kids, one of our favorite things to do was to go to the grocery story and pick out something we had never tried before. In the produce department one day we found an Ugli fruit. The name alone caught our attention. What in the world was an Ugli fruit and what did it taste like?
We bought some and took them home to try. Turns out an Ugli fruit is a type of tangelo. Sort of a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit. They are delicious! Eating them however just gave us more questions. Why had we never seen an Ugli fruit before? Where did they grow? Off to the computer to do a bit of research. Apparently Ugli fruit are a particular tangelo grown in Jamaica and “Ugli” is a trademarked name owned by Cabel Hall Citrus Limited, under which it markets the fruit. They chose the word Ugli as a play on “ugly” since the fruit has a rough, wrinkled, greenish-yellow rind that is not particularly pretty. It is also knows as “Uniq Fruit.”
So why had we never seen one before? Well the crop for Ugli fruit is not large and they have a very short season being available only from December to April. The limited supply makes them expensive and therefore markets don’t often carry them.
With sweet juice running down our fingers, questions like these kept us busy for half an afternoon. We looked up maps to find Jamaica. Learned about weather patterns to find out why they grew there. And even explored what other citrus fruits there might be that we had never thought of such as finger limes and bergamot.
As you satisfy your curiosity in one area, it frequently just leads to more questions. Asking questions makes life exciting. It is how you discover new things. If we had never wondered what an Ugli fruit tasted like, we never would have bought it. Now we know we love Ugli fruit and buy them whenever they are available.
Sometimes trying new things are not quite as enjoyable. When my kids saw a jar of Vegemite in the store and wondered what it was. I explained that my friends in Australia loved Vegemite sandwiches. We took a jar home and I made sandwiches for the kids who thought they were the most disgusting things ever. It wasn’t a wasted endeavor however. The experience peaked their curiosity. Why in the world did Australians think this was delicious?! This question of course led us on an exploration of Australian culture. We even found a gravy recipe we like so that we could use up the rest of our jar of Vegemite without wasting it. The video below pretty much summed up my kids opinion of this food product.
Regardless of where your curiosity leads you, follow it. In doing so you will meet new people, visit new places, learn new skills, try new foods and so much more. Live your life “between the questions.” For there are always more questions. There is no excuse for boredom when there is an entire world out there to explore. Not sure where to start? Read through our alphabetical badge list and randomly choose one. Go learn something new!
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