The title of today's posting is a throwback to something Capt. SO (aka Capt. Cook) said years ago when a friend and I boarded a train for Chicago to attend the National Flute Convention. He got his jollies from telling everyone that I was going to the National Fruit Convention. Being a music major, I've endured far worse jokes and actually thought it was kind of funny.
Segue to December, 2011.
I belong to a local flute club and have for many years. The organization goes out into the community, in large or small groups, to play as requested, with the most requests usually coming during the Holly Daze. Tonight is one of those "appearances" so my mind is on "flute club" or, thanks to Capt. SO, "fruit club". Then, today, I ate the most delicious orange for lunch, which brought my brain to actual fruit and how remarkable a food group fruit is.
While the sun beamed in through the condo windows, I used my citrus fruit "scorer" - for lack of a better word - to begin the peeling process of the orange. As in time-lapse photography with the sun as a backdrop, minuscule drops of moisture burst from the orange like escaping droplets of dancing mercury from a shattered old-fashioned thermometer that a child (me) accidentally dropped on the floor. (This actual event, done when I was under ten years of age, left a lasting impression on me. I can still remember my mother frantically trying to catch and find all of the mercury.) Those "burstlets" made my mouth water as I relished thinking about how the orange would taste in my mouth.
As I sat eating the orange, I noticed the apple setting on the counter, ready to eat for dinner and it made me realize what perfect food God designed when he and his team organized and created the world. Fruit is truly a "super" food because most of the species within the group require little or no preparation for eating. With the exception of washing, many fruits are "road-ready". Fruits such as bananas, oranges, apples, grapes, grapefruit, tangerines, tangelos, cherries, plums, pears, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries (and a host of other fruits in the berry family) and tomatoes are hand-to-mouth food. Other fruits such as pineapples, kiwis, limes, lemons, star fruit, pomegranates and mangoes take a little effort for preparation but the results are oh-so-worth-it. (I am aware that I have inadvertently left many fruits off both lists.)
Admittedly, there are many vegetables that are "road-ready" for eating but that is another blog posting and, besides, fresh vegetables do not go well with cereal, pancakes or dribbled over ice cream or cake.
While I'm playing my trusty Haynes flute tonight, a smile just might creep over my face as I think about flutes and fruits.
Ancora imparo
