Our friend Kumiko came by the other day with a huge bag of citrus fruit (for which I never properly thanked her, especially since she sacrificed her fruit picker in the process.) It was a generous gift-of time as well as fruit-since each variety of was packaged in it's own brown bag with little stories and drawings on them.
Tearing each gift open felt a little like Christmas. And truth be told it smelled like Christmas too, the bright citrus smells mingling together. Every Christmas morning we found a sweet orange in the toe of our stockings, a sunny reminder of summer in the middle of winter.
I took a few minutes to take some photos of these little gems because it reminded me so much of growing up in Utah. As soon as the gardens were in and producing neighbors were out and about delivering their extra fruits and veggies. There's even a joke about it:
Q: What do you call someone who has to buy zucchini in summer?
A: Someone with no friends.
And honestly, I'd never bought a zucchini until I left Utah. Italian Squash? Sounds fancy to me.
So it's just fruit, right? In my experience it's a little more than that. There is something about a sharing with your friends and neighbors that creates community. I know that it made me a feel a little more at home. Thanks Kumiko, and I owe you a fruit-picker.
