Fruity Thoughts

There are few things that are as colorful, rich and staggering in experience like fruits. There are so many beautiful fruits in this world that I cant help thinking, "What an artist the Creator is!" and maybe this sounds ridiculous, but organic food is a strict no-no for me right now. I dont buy it at all.

Okay, getting back to fruits, I have always loved lemon, orange and strawberries. Right from the time I was a kid, those were my favorites. In Zambia, we had a beautiful home that was once owned by a devastatingly handsome Egyptian guy and he had maintained a sprawling garden where later my mother grew vegetables on the back portion of the house, lawns and dahlias on the front driveway and we had lots of mulberry trees from which I used to pick ripe, juicy berries and just eat them fresh. It's still a memory that is so rich in my mind. In our garden, we had a rather thorny looking flower clusters that if you touched the red bud flower, you would end up crying out because it's got a thorn under it. The African gardener called this plant, "Christ's Blood" because they believe that the crown of thorns placed on Christ's head drew in his blood and became exactly what this plant looks like. This plant fascinated me for a long time and I used to look very sadly at it, wondering how painful it must have been for Jesus Christ to have worn it on his head.

I have friends who love great food and fruits. One particular friend used to be gaga on papayas, all finely cut and stuff, as a snack. I am not too crazy about a single fruit that I can have it all the time. I like to sample fine varieties of fruits than stick to any single one. For summers, I love juicy watermelons, oranges and lemon (which i convert to zesty juice, of course).

Getting my son to eat fruits is a rather painful process coz if there's anything juicy that comes out of it, he can't take it and its right there splattered very messily on the floors. He loves bright yellow bananas and sometimes if he is in a benevolent mood, he loves apples which he calls as 'appl' and once a cousin of mine gave him some pomengranate and he loved it so much! When i tried doing the same, well, better not to go further about it, its again a tragedy! But i truly wish i could take my son back some day to see the old garden I spent my childhood days in, where the Christ's blood plant drew my sympathy and wistful thoughts.

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