I remember once when I was a little girl, my Grandma Hetherington told me that when she was young, she would get something like a book and an orange for Christmas. An orange for Christmas? I couldn't believe my ears. I was shocked that something so invaluable and plentiful—that actually grew on trees—could be considered a gift. Now I wonder if we'd all be better off with small tokens like that instead of the extravagant things we all seem to want and need...
I was thinking about this story when I set off into the front yard yesterday with my fruit picker. If you're not familiar with this tool, it's a long pole with a sort of clawed basket attached to one end. As you can see from the picture above, our trees are ridiculously weighted with oranges right now. And although my picker and I spent a good thirty minutes defruiting, we barely made a dent. I did get hit in the head a couple of times by oranges that bounced out of the basket—I'm sure I was an entertaining sight for any neighbors watching.
Here's what I ended up with after my mini harvest attempt:
I didn't count my fruity booty, but I bet there are somewhere between 60-80 oranges there. And the tree looks exactly the same as when I started. I think its power is so great, everything in the front yard it turning orange with envy.
By far, my favorite pick from the day was this little mangler that looked like a deflated orange balloon. Or... well, we'll leave it at the balloon comparison...
While I was playing farmer, Mr. W was doing his own work with some citrus, making baklava (which requires just a hint of lemon). The kitchen smelled awfully yummy when I came back inside.
And now we get to look forward to having a little bit of this with Christmas dessert tomorrow night:
One of the many upsides of marrying a half Greek boy! And there's something so much more meaningful about a present like this than a new iPad or cashmere sweater. Grandma Hetherington was onto something...
Happy Holidays, blog readers! Wishing you lots of love and laughter and adventure from now into the New Year!
Awwww, I love this post. Probably because it's frigid in Chicago and it reminds me the sun is somewhere, even if it isn't shining here. =) After our Christmas this year, I would be in absolute favor of small tokens of love. We have BAGS of gifts, half of which we probably won't keep. We don't have the space or the need. Sigh. I'm thinking next year I'm going to focus on "experience" gifts ... the ones that don't take up any space in our home. =)
ReplyDeleteI love "experience" gifts. I've tried to give those to my parents as much as possible over the last few years because they have everything!
DeleteIf you want me to ship some sunny CA oranges to Chicago for you, just say the word. ;)
What a bounty! Hope your 2013 is just as plentiful. xo
ReplyDeleteThank you! And back atcha!
DeleteHappy New Year!! What a cool post-I can't imagine growing up with so many oranges. We get a lot in our stores here, but it would be awesome to just pick them out of trees!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, too, missy. It is pretty cool to just walk outside and have food right there like it's your own personal grocery store. :)
DeleteYes, there is something charming about simple Christmas gifts. I asked for gloves this year. Nothing fancy. Just a certain glove I wanted. I was so very pleased to open this simple gift. Made me appreciate it more.
ReplyDelete(Of course he DID get me an engagement ring and give it to me before Christmas, but that doesn't count right?)
Oh the engagement ring doesn't count! That's a life gift, not a Christmas gift. There's something very romantic about gloves in Paris. Sigh...
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