I’m picky. I like my guys like I like my fruit. I try to get mine from the fruit market, not the supermarket. Better quality at the fruit market. That's what they specialize in, so I trust they have better variety and quality. I don’t like my fruit too ripe; I like to let them ripen up a bit each day, walk by and smell what promises to be a delectable treat. Nothing like the smell of fresh fruit, ripening. I love a variety-a nice fruit salad, where the flavors mingle and mesh and dance on my tongue. Some are tart, some sweet, some a bit sour; I can do without the bitter apple though. I come across those a lot and they leave that horrible taste on the back of your tongue-you know, the one that makes you nauseous. Those are the fruits I accidentally pick when I don't spend time checking them, smelling them, shaking them. They seem okay upon first glance and because I need that quick potassium or vitamin C my body is craving, I just go with what's on sale and then regret it when I get them home. No take-backs. You can't return bad fruit. I've tried.
I like bananas; I didn’t used to. I hated bananas because of how they looked when they were too ripe. They tend to ripen too quickly and go bad even quicker. They have those black spots that tell you they're getting too ripe and may need to use them quickly. I don't like those. Funny-I was eating a banana last weekend and I bit out and threw away the dark part, habitual thing, the extra ripe part, and my brothers looked at me and asked what I was doing because the bruised part was the sweetest part. I just couldn’t and still can’t wrap my mind around that. All I see is the bruised fruit and in my mind, it can’t be good and besides, it's too mushy, feels weird in my mouth. I’d been biting and throwing away that part of the banana all my life. I find it hard to change now. Maybe I need to, huh?
I’ll try new fruit. The exotic Dragonfruit comes to
mind, beautiful on the outside and inside but the taste, not so palatable-rather bland. The guava, oh, the guava, I love the sour, tangy sweetness. An island favorite. I’d gotten used to the fruits that are here in the US and forgotten those tropical pleasures of my island home, the naseberry, the starapple, the june plum-that was until I went back home recently and took them all in, slowly nibbling and savoring, gently peeling and allowing the juices to warm the back of my tongue and move slowly down my throat. Aaah, nothing like a good, juicy mango. I love my Jamaican fruits. 
But, I need to have my fruit in proper portions. Yes, fruit is healthy and great, but in moderation. I tend to overdo it when I’m in the fruit mood and then, from one extreme to the other, I go on a fruit starvation diet, where I have no fruit at all. I need to learn to make fruit a part of my daily diet. I think I may even need to give that bruised banana a chance. I just may like it and if I don’t, I’m not forced to eat it again.
Maybe that bruised fruit is exactly what I need. That bruised fruit that I'd been spitting out could turn out to be my fruit of choice. You never know until you try, right? That's what life is about, I suppose, trying new fruit, throwing away the fruit that doesn't work for you, once you've given it a fair chance and keeping the fruit that does work-the fruit that makes those luscious smoothies that you so crave and savor.
Aaaah, fruit.
4 comments:
Another winner the contrast is on point .... I totally agree we have a choice we don't have to eat the bruised fruit....if you like it over ripe and mushy then be prepared to deal with the mess!
Love it! Very poetical and full of truth.
We do tend to think that bruised or unripe fruit as unappealing. Mostly cause the bruised fruit is seen as bad, unsavory or tainted, while we are too inpatient to wait for the unripened to become into what we want it to taste, look and feel like. Funny, back in our 20s this wasn't always the case. We saw the bruised fruit as a little dangerous and to some, that made it appealing. And we were somewhat unripened ourselves so we weren't at all opposed to tasting the unripened fruit as it kinda suited us.
Now that we are thirty something, single AND sensational we have a different view on fruit. While we are more in-tuned with the kinds of fruits we like, we are at a different place and are focused on different things. The kinda fruit we didn't really care for before we are now taking a liking to, while leaving some others behind. And there is those exotic fruits we are just now trying for the first time. Not what we are used to, but beautiful and strange in a good way.
But there in lies the rub. We have careers now and, like you pointed out, do not always have the time to tantalize our senses and really get to know neither this new exotic nor the old and familiar fruit. As we are trying to make a future for ourselves we sometimes forget to stop and smell the fruit, even when it is staring us in the face begging to be savored.
The old saying goes, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Just imagine what a kiwi, dragon fruit, or pineapple can do for the soul :).
Well written my friend. Well written!
Mental not to self: Make the time to reacquaint self with fruit.....
Sherie, thanks chica. See, that's been my problem. I've been picking up fruit that was obviously bruised, thinking I could make some good smoothies from them, only to find out the damn things had worms. Lesson learned though-no more bruised fruit.
Sardonic, I love when you respond to my blogs. Damn bruised fruit! Not only don't they look good but they're all mushy and squishy. You're right! When we were young (I don't know about you, but I still am), we liked those fruit salads. Now, we want that one fruit that we can eat every day, because we know it tastes great. Back then, the dangerous fruit tasted great-or did it? Did we just think it did? I think we just thought it did. Now, we are so particular. I don't know about you bu tI squeeze mine, I smell mine, I try to make sure my fruit is up to par
What's crappy is that when we go shopping late at night, or on a budget, we pick up garbage. And, in the wrong light, that damn fruit doesn't look so bad. I know we're busy and all but we have to find time to do some serious fruit shopping. We need to make a shopping list and stick to it. ONly get mangoes. Only get bananas. Don't pick up what's on sale or what just looks good today.
An apple a day.....perfect Des. Just perfect. I bet a pineapple would heal all wounds...especially if Shawn and Gus brought it ;-)
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