My Husband's Mistress

Yes, it is true. My husband has another woman. She is beautiful, a little dirty, and gives him what he needs. When he is not working, or home with me, he is almost always with her. Sometimes she makes we jealous. Sometimes she makes me mad or sad. I can't complain too much though, because we both have benefited from this unusual relationship. I'm sure you are wondering who she is. Well, she is my husband's plantation.

Now why would I call a plantation my husband's affair? Because he loves to spend time with her, it seems at times, more than he does with me. Her vines and leaves are seductive to him. He loves watching her grow and blossom. What does she have that I don't?

He actually saw a doctor regarding his need to be with her. The doctor was quite concerned, and after much thought, the physician gave this wise remark: Perhaps you like your plantation so much, because you feel in control when you are there. When you are at home, your wife tells you what to do. So, you have a need to be in total control, and at the plantation, you are the king.

You see, my husband comes from the islands of Tonga. Most people there are farmers. They grow their own food. The secrets of how to get the best crops has been passed down for generations. Food is money to these people. If they have food, they are rich! Not only that, but my husband's country of Tonga is a monarchy. They have a King and my husband has royal blood flowing in his veins. It is no wonder he that feels the need to be the ruler. The food that he plants definitely yield to him. If they don't, they are cut down. He plants, nourishes, waters and has high hopes for a productive harvest. He has no time for unproductive plants.

In our neighborhood, my husband is getting to be known as the "banana king". He has been very successful in cultivating delicious apple bananas. When a bunch get almost ripe, he harvests them. They ripen quite rapidly when they are cut, and there is no way that my husband and I can eat all of them, so he shares them with neighbors, friends, the poor students that we live close to and others in need.

When my grandson came to visit last Christmas, he tasted some of Grandpa's bananas. He instantly said that they had honey in them. After he traveled back home, he called and said he missed Grandpa's "honey bananas".

We used to have many delicious papaya. Every day, we would eat sweet nutritious papaya for breakfast. Unfortunately, the trees got a fungus and died. My husband just planted several more papaya trees, and he is very hopeful for a large harvest soon.

Not only does my husband's plantation give him bananas and papaya, but also many other yummy foods. My favorite are the sweet potatoes (called kumala in Tongan). Although I was raised on potatoes in Utah, I would almost rather eat kumala. So delicious! They come in purple and orange-yellow. Then there is taro (yam), 'ufi (long white root crop), beans, peanuts, pele (Tongan spinach) and corn.

With the economy the way it is right now, I am grateful that my husband spends so much time with his other love, the plantation. Many of the root crops can last in the ground for a long length of time which makes good food storage.

One day my husband came home looking a little bit different than usual. He look a little disheartened by his experience in "the bush" (that is what Tongans call their plantations). Come to find out, he had been attacked by a long centipede. It had crawled up his pant leg and left two big fang marks on his thigh. I thought that might make him give up his affair, but, no - he just resolved to go even more often!

So, you see, I do not mind so much my husband's affair with his plantation. It has saved us so much money on groceries, it gives him exercise, and he is out of my hair while I do my crafts and write my hubs.