As the bible says,“I will lift up mine eyes to the mountain” and usually on my walk, I do. This morning though, the mist was thick and I couldn’t see that far. So “I casteth them down” and what did I see? Walnuts. They were scattered all over the path; the windfall from the night before. I was thrilled. I’ve never lived in a place with walnut trees. Walnuts are something you buy for christmas baking and they’re pretty pricey too. The Lord shooketh down nuts, but I saw bonbons and began filling my pockets.
There is a childish delight in seeing strange fruit where it actually grows. One of my most vivid memories from our trip to Barcelona is the city grove of orange trees in Hospital de la Santa Creu. Bright orange balls in a tree; they looked like something from a fairy tale. My sister-in-law, Hanneke has spent time in Africa and I’m riveted by her stories of bananas. Really, she’ll tell you. I am. The only time I saw a banana on a tree was in a botanical garden.
I’m sure it works both ways, African eyes must pop out of their heads to see an apple tree. It’s so funny that. The exotic is so relative. A bit of fruit that fascinates me would leave a native unimpressed. It’s the same with animals. How thrilling would it be to see an elephant in the wild? To me, very. Yet, a squirrel in a tree here may crack a smile while a visiting Kenyan would grab his camera. (on no factual evidence, I’m assuming they have no squirrels in Kenya) Fruits from other places seem exotic. In my experience, walnuts are captives in the supermarket. Oranges are prisoners in little net bags. Its a thrill to see them in their natural habitat, just hanging there on a tree, at liberty.
However, there’s another great thing about finding nuts on the road; you get something for free that you usually have to pay for. (witness woman greedily stuffing walnuts into pockets) That’s mercenary but still a treat. And now, I can’t wait for christmas and, as the bible says, “I will lift up mine eyes – to a walnut bonbon recipie”
Han says
And at the end of this journey you’ll come back with a pile of these funny, and striking stories! A joy to read!
Mary says
Oh Maaann! I wish I were with you!
Mary says
That little squirrel is saying “Are you stealin my nuts?”
deb says
That squirrel looks exotic — brown & white with tufts of hair on his ears — don’t see those in NE! He’d make a cute pet — gather him up with the walnuts.
Shelly says
And I remember Claire’s fascination with the Illinois Squirrels when she was a little girl visiting us! Love you, Julie!!!
Martin O'Brien says
Dear Lovely Julie,
“The exotic is so relative.” Truer words have not been spoken! Take, for instance, my Wild and Beautiful Rezac cousins. Exotic, without a doubt. And, my relatives. Proof complete!
I love your stories!
Once, I had the pleasure of operating an optical instrument, for hours, in an amazing orchard of walnut trees. In powerful rows, they reached to the sky and were majestic and peaceful. Then, along came two workmen in a strange, forklift-like contraption. Instead of fork tines, it had this odd leather belt and a motor of some sort. They calmly hooked this up to a nearby tree, which piqued my curiosity so that I watched intently. Then, all of a sudden, they turned the motor on and this hailstorm of walnuts pummeled my head! It RAINED walnuts! At about this moment, I noticed the workmen were wearing hard hats, while I had none. The two guffawed! Then, they calmly unhooked their torture device and drove away, laughing hysterically.
I am so pleased to hear the Lord doth lay your walnuts so gently at your feet. Clearly, your standing in His eyes is much superior to mine own!
julierezac@btconnect.com says
What jokers, It reminds me of my theory, “Where heads are, balls will hit them.” (nuts in your case) I have hard scientific proof that if a head is in a room, a ball will aim for it. Once my friend, Chuck Frye, was in the gym during basketball practice. A group of us were watching the “home team’ side of the gym and chuck was the only person over on the “opponent team” side. I think he was waiting for his mom to pick him up. The player dribbled the ball a few times and made a lovely shot for the hoop – but it was too fast and hard. It bounced wildly off the rim and shot directly at Chuck’s head. It was a bullseye and must’ve hurt like hell but the group of us watching laughed our heads off. Somehow it is the peak of hilarity if a ball hits somebody in the head. Since then, I’v had it happen to me – on soccer pitches, pingpong matches and even once at a cricket game. I’m very nervous around balls.
One other thing. I was in the camper one morning when I heard a car stop in front of our pitch. The door slammed, I heard some squishy footstep sounds, and suddenly the little tree in front started violently shaking. It was the camp manager shaking down some hazelnuts. He calmly picked up his harvest and drove away…I looked out for them the next morning and again filled my pockets.
Love to hear from you Martin. x
julierezac@btconnect.com says
Whaddya mean! I had to fight him off to get my haul!
julierezac@btconnect.com says
Thanks Han, I love that you read them and think of you when I’m writing them x
julierezac@btconnect.com says
B-A-R-C-E-L-O-N-A…get on a bus! I wish you were here too. Today I went to an under-achieving tourist town and it was pouring rain. I couldn’t really walk around without getting drenched so I went to the museum of regional crafts (entry price 1.50) which looked like somebody had cleaned out their closet and made a museum out of it. Then I went to the Museum of Regional Industry that looked like they got contributions from all the businesses in town and made a museum out of it. (bumper stickers, pens, employee award plaques, that sort of thing) It was diverting enough…but we would’ve had a ball!
Hanneke says
Looking forward to that “Julia” ! By the way.. Didn’t I tell more stories About anassases (?) are Born ? Exactly; Born . They don’t grow. They are Born like little purple wonderful promisses like we were Told children ‘ groeien uit en als kool’.
Big kiss
Hanneke
julierezac@btconnect.com says
You have loads of great travel stories, don’t forget to bring some photos of your recent trips. maybe we can make pineapple and walnut bon bons – if any are born around christmas
Nigel says
We have been having the same joy round here lately. There has been an abundance of mushrooms in the woods and chest nuts too. Pam comes back with her basket laden with the sodden, wet fruits of the forests, looking like a drown rat! And of course Hector is in heaven, out in the wild with all those enticing smells of nature. Now its apples, apples and more apples. Juice, pies, and stewed for breakfast. So delicious. It is an incredible year for them. Our neighbour Graeme has just brought another barrow load round… There is a strong storm predicted tonight (the cynic in me says it won’t happen, they always exaggerate these things to protect their own backs), so we can expect more wind falls in the morning. Lots of love, and we are missing you. Nigel
julierezac@btconnect.com says
You know what that means, Nigel. Make some Calvados! My focus has changed from fruits of the forest to fruits of the sea…had some delicious gambas tapas in Barcelona with Claire yesterday. Weather hasn’t been great but today the sun is blazing through light clouds and blue sky. I’m enjoying the last heat of summer and haven’t seen a romanesque church for 3 days!. Bougainvillea is blooming in the hedge, birds singing…great. so glad to hear from you and we miss you all too. Last week we ate jerusalem artichokes for dinner and remembered (too late) Pamela’s warning of the result. At always, she was right and we opened all the windows! love you, Julie