the weight too heavy

small lemon branches bow down

humble submission

oo0oo

just a few weeks more
the taste of fresh lemonade
cooling down parched throats

Within the perimeter of this space I proudly call home are two fruit-bearing avocado trees. One variety, with egg-shaped fruits, has been here for decades - even older than my sons. The younger one produces big pear-shaped fruits with skin turning brownish when they ripen. Both varieties  have creamy, buttery flesh. Great for salads, ice cream, or shakes. The flesh tastes so yummy even just eaten the way it is.

This time of the year the fruits are far from maturity yet.  A few may be ready for harvest in a few days. The rest will take a month more or even two. Looking up the tree with a lot of young fruits hanging on the branches gives me a certain sense of  delight. 

they hang like cute bells

swaying with the wind's whisper

young avocados

oo0oo

christmas five months past
bells still cheerfully dangle
avocado tree

rows of mango trees
heavily laden with fruits
shouting for harvest

oo0oo

harvest time is here

bounty of green mangoes

bragging robust smiles


oo0o

Every time a fully grown and mature fruit tree is on its way to bearing fruit, one always sees first thousands of flowers decorate its branches. Hundreds of them are blown by the wind. Still, many of those who have weathered the wind cannot resist the quivering of branches as birds come to perch.

Lucky for those who make it to the first  month. And yet, not all are destined to maturity. Nature takes its course in the guise of the wind and the birds. Perhaps it's a way of countering overpopulation - ensuring that what remains will grow healthy for humans, kids and adults alike, to munch. Rose apples, or tambis in our local dialect, are no exception.

a heap of cute bells

their lives cut short by the birds

can't see them turn pink

oo0oo

cream colored bells lay

mourning for their lives just snatched

by the cruel wind

oo0oo

they failed to make it

helpless baby rose apples 

the broom does its job

oo0oo

never fails to lure 

target of children's mad stones

bunch of rose apples