Rain, Blossoms, Kiwifruit and Persimmons

Today it was dark and gloomy in the pens, because it rained almost all day long, but the monotony of the droning patter of falling rain was broken by the look and feel and color and flavor of unusual fruit.

Bow slept almost all morning, because what else can you do when the world is so dark and wet outside?

It was quite warm out when I went for my walk in the afternoon, but the petals of the latest blossoms on the cherry tree had been stained pink by the bruising they received in the rain,

By the path in the pasture, there were two persimmons so ripe that they had fallen to ground by one of the taller trees.

The smallest and most bountiful persimmon tree had more of its fruit ripe for the picking.

Dripping with rain, the persimmons looked very appetizing.

I picked the ripe ones and brought them home to Bow, so soft to the touch they were almost falling apart.

Bow ate the pulp and gently spit out the seeds into my hand. There were a lot of seeds!

For dessert with dinner tonight, I served Bow one of the four kiwifruit that his friend who brings the bananas gave him last week. They were not ripe then, but they are starting to ripen now.

Bow had never had kiwifruit before, so when he requested it, he called it "something else."

The kiwifruit was so good, Bow almost forgot to use the spoon I provided, but he was very polite and handed me the empty plate and spoon when he was done.

It can be very dark in the pens when the sun is not shining, but life is never dull when there is new and interesting fruit to eat.

The Fruit Ripens Slowly

The other day, I was talking with my daughter in the living room, and she interrupted what I was saying to remark: "Look at the funny face Bow is making." But when I turned around to look, I didn't see Bow at all. "Where is he?" I asked.

I was on the couch with my back to the pens, and Sword was facing the inner pen. When we sit in the living room, Bow usually climbs up on the spars to keep up with us. There is a window opening onto the living room from the pen, and he can see and hear everything.

"He was up there just a moment ago," she told me, "making a funny face, But when you turned around, he disappeared."

We kept talking, and it happened again. He made a face at Sword, but when I turned to look he was nowhere to be seen. After about three repetitions, I went back inside to talk to Bow. I asked him what he wanted.  תני לי לדבר עם דודה חרב. "Let me talk to Lady [Aunt] Sword."

"I'm not his aunt!" from the living room she protested.

In Hebrew, the word for aunt is also used to designate grown women, especially when talking to children, the same way in English we might say "look at that lady". Bow has taken to referring to himself as an "uncle" whenever he wants to make it clear that he is not a baby, anymore.

"I don't think he meant it that way," I said to Sword. "I think he means that he knows you are practically grown up."

Reluctantly, she came and sat by him for a moment of silent communion on the other side of the pen door. This seemed to satisfy him. Bow does not like being ignored, but he does not necessarily ask for very much by way of intellectual interaction.

Bow making a friendly face in the outer pen

They are growing up so fast! She has only two more years of high school ahead of her before she starts her independent life. And he will also be an adult soon, in about five more years. And that's part of what it means when you take on the project of raising a child or a chimpanzee: that it takes time, and early on in the experiment, it seems they will never grow up and things are moving so slowly, but by imperceptible  tiny  leaps and bounds they do grow and change so that they seem to become something completely different from what they were at the start.

Bow looking thoughtful though amused

I used to miss the intermediate stages of the fruit on the trees ripening, too. I mean, I would notice the blossoms, and then a little later in the season, I would notice that the fruit was ripe. But exactly how this magic happened was beyond me. I was too busy to look at the trees every day.

an unripe cherry emerging from the blossom

Now I can see how the cherries emerge from the spent flowers.

Two cherries growing in opposite directions

I notice that while one tree is busy growing cherries, the other still sports some late blooming blossoms, because no two are on exactly the same schedule.

I can see the little fringe of flower left at the top of the pears as they ripen.

The pears seem to wear a flower crown

And I notice how the little fuzzy peaches emerge from the bloom.

Fuzzy peaches wear their spent flowers like a hula skirt

I even notice the mystery fruit on our mystery tree when it is looking more like an olive than the plum it will become.

Can you spot the mystery fruit in this picture?

There are seasons in life, and each brings with it its particular rewards. I plan to savor all of them! But you can't wait till the last moment to set out on an eighteen year trip. You have to allot the needed time for the journey. And sometimes we are more mindful, and other times we don't notice, yet the fruit ripens either way.