(Part II of “When Old Age and Bad Appearance Hide Great Sweetness“)
At long last, after two days of heavy rain, the sun decides to come out from behind the clouds and now shines its warm sunlight. It’s late morning, the temperature is warm, I can finally go outdoors and carry on with the description of my garden.
Mulberry tree – photo by Debra
I go directly to the bottom, where there was a very high mulberry tree. Its leaves were bright green. The crown was very thick and the wide trunk was very rough.
The tree was so high that when it was the mulberry season, fruits were left to fall to the ground which was covered by a carpet of dark violet delicious mulberries. I tried to pick up and eat the cleaner fruits (normally those ones which fell on the grass), while I left to the birds and fruit flies those which fell on the ground, because they were full of soil.
Purple Granadilla (Passion Fruit) – photo by Cayobo
A high fence divided my garden from the property of the neighbors’ pool. It was covered with a thick bushy creeper which grew the whole length of the fence. During the summer this creeper was full of round violet fruits called granadilla which were a little smaller than an orange. They looked very nice but their taste was even better because of the bitter sweetness. I used to eat the pulp with a tea spoon and the bitter-sweet taste was so delicious that you immediately cut open another fruit, then another one and so on until you were satisfied.
Purple Granadilla (Passion Fruit) – photo by Edward Kimber
Near the wall that divided my garden from Bugs’ family property there was a very high guava tree. This tree had a smooth bark and a very tall trunk, with several big branches which hung over the wall towards Bugs’ property. The leaves were oval shaped and a dark green color. They mostly grew near the fruits. They were pink with a soft peel that could be eaten like Italian figs. Inside there was a pink pulp with light brown seeds. The taste of this fruit was very sweet, delicious to eat.
Unfortunately the fruits grew so high that only the birds could easily reach them. I could only hope that some fell on the ground without being squashed, in that case it was an extreme race between me and the ants and who got the guava first had the right to eat it. It must have been very annoying for the guavas that fell in Bugs’ yard because all those squashed guavas with the heat would rot and give an unpleasant smell. So Bugs had to clean his drive-way and get rid of these rotten guavas as often as possible.
Guava tree – photo by Sandy Austin
In my garden there were numerous other trees but they had nothing special about them. They did not bare fruits, but had only green leaves which in winter changed color and became yellow-brown. They fell to the ground forming a thick carpet on which it was very pleasant to rest with a blanket.
I have tried to describe my garden as it was more than thirty years ago when I lived in PMB. Step by step we have completed the roundabout through the fruit trees as they are fixed in my memory. My senses woke up and through them I relived all sensations that I experienced.
With the taste buds of my memory I tasted the sweetness of the loquats, the mulberries and the guavas. With the smell of my memory I smelt the flowers that covered the trees. With the touch of my memory I could feel the soft leaves, the stubbiness of the short grass and the big rough trunks of the trees. With the hearing of my memory I heard the birds happily singing while eating my delicious fruits!
About Mauro
I got my inspiration for this website from the song called “Imagine”, and so I decided to go on this adventure. I have always wanted to put up something like this where my friends and I could express our memories and dreams for the future. Share them with us, because if many people dream the same dream it will certainly come true.
Speak Your Mind