cornucopia

I receive great satisfaction from picking fruit off trees. This enjoyment probably stems from growing up on an avocado and orange orchard (thank you Mom and Dad). It feels wonderful to stretch my arms to reach higher fruits, to gently bend tree branches, and to feel the tree's trunk and leaves. It's even more exhilarating to gather fruit from trees that many people ignore.

Every fall in Camarillo, I walk up the street from my parents' house and take fruit hanging over fences. Sometimes, I'll feel more daring and bring the avocado-picking pole my Dad made. Using this tool allows me to pick pomegranates, persimmons, and quince from the top of trees. Usually, I'll just take what is within my reach.

Now that I'm living near a couple community gardens, my fall harvest has diversified. There is an avocado tree outside the apartment complex that yields fruit in the fall. The avocados have large seeds and sweet, watery meat. In the campus garden, I harvested persimmons, green apples, red apples, pineapple guavas, and figs.

Maybe the brilliant folks who planted these trees realized the long term benefits. Right on! If I were to plan a city, or a country, or a imaginative society, say Chingónlandia, our planning team would plant a variety of fruit and nut trees according to that climate. It makes so much sense. Trees that feed people.