This weekend was so full of activity, I am breaking it down into installments. It was a good weekend, the kind I want to remember.
My parents house is one of the very best things about living in the Inland Empire. Thirty years ago, before planned communities and McMansions, you could buy a home with land that goes on for days. That’s exactly what my parents did. When we first moved in, the house had well over 200 orange trees, which is typical for this region of southern California. Citrus is what the Inland Empire was known for back in the 1800s. My parents removed the trees after a few short years. As intoxicating as the smell of orange blossoms was during the summer, the cost to water that many trees was prohibitive, to say nothing of the waste come picking season. You can’t give away oranges in the Inland Empire. I always chuckle when I hear of people who get oranges in their stockings during Christmas and consider it a treat. Call me; I’ll send you a crate.
For years the two acres sat empty, just dirt and a ramshackle playhouse from our youth. As it turned out, the cost to landscape that much land made the cost of maintaining orange trees look thrifty. It wasn’t until about 7 years ago that my mom looked into planting trees again–and verified that watering said trees wouldn’t put her on the street. Slowly, with time, over 200 avocado trees found their way onto the property. We took advantage of the trees and the beauty this weekend with a series of family pictures. Some of us, some of my parents, some of my brother and his wife and baby.
Avocado trees take 8 years to bear fruit, and during that time they grow fat and wide like children under a grandmother’s care. The boys like to dart in and around the trees with swords made from fallen branches. I like to sit at the top of the stairs and survey the grove for short stories. I’m positive that if I imagine hard enough, I can pluck one from the trees like a fresh fruit.
They “grow fat and wide, like children under a grandmother�s care.” Best simile ever.
Those avocados look delicious. In New England right now, avocados are inedible. How does a truly “fresh from the tree” one taste ? It’s breakfast time here and I am drooling and dreaming over the thought of fresh avocados.
I consider myself a freshness snob, as growing up with my Dad’s vegetable garden, I was truly spoiled by all that FRESH goodness. I cringe over produce specially highlighted as such in grocery stores. Yikes. Last night I paid 1.89lb for oranges.
Lush, green backdrop for a gorgeous family picture. Nice.
They taste very buttery and rich, but they are hard to catch at the right time. You have to remember to go out and get them! Pick them too soon (like they are in the picture–my dad and The Mister shouldn’t have picked those) and they will never ripen properly. Wait too long, and they’ll fall to the ground and bruise. But when you do get them–delicious!
Mmmm… avocados …
What Donna said!!
New England is beautiful..bla bla bla, but as I’ve said to you before- I would give my right arm for a fresh avocado tree.
Lovely writing and sweet pictures.
You know what makes all of us squeel this time of year? A shipment of fresh grapefruit from my father-in-law in Texas. And yes, oranges in our stockings is a treat!
Um, we had a large grapefruit tree in our backyard that we had to take down. The grapefruits were the size of mutant softballs and juicier than anything I’ve ever tasted, but we wanted space for the boys to play and the wasps were getting pretty bad (they love the blossoms). At one point I had 5 shopping bags overflowing with fruit and nowhere to take them. Again, you can’t give it away.
i love how you make even avocados (which, gasp!, i do not like) sound fascinating and decidedly beautiful. also, love the picture of you and your hubby. that outfit is fabulous!
Wow, beautiful property, and those avocados! You can send a crateful of those my way (Michigan). ;)
True story: my brother went to law school in Michigan, and he was miserable without the avocados! He used to “wow” his classmates with guacamole. :)
Haha – I bet! They never seem to be as good here (from the store) as when I lived in San Francisco and they’d most likely spent much much less time on a truck or airplane.
You are so beautiful, both as a family and as an individual. Love these pictures, sounds like your holidays are much warmer and sun-shinier than ours!
I think I’d rather have avocados than oranges in my stocking…
Oooo!!! Me too!
great pics if i do say so ;) what a fun day!
Ahhh..the jealousy. I paid, just this past weekend, 0.89 EACH for oranges…that were barely even the color orange. They were more like a light citrus-yellow color… sad. What’s worse? Avocados are 1.59/lb!!!!! No joke. Could it get worse you ask? Well, there’s only two levels of ‘fresh avocados’ here. Hard as a rock and sneakily brown under the green skin… always a surprise when you open them up. Hence, you must purchase two times the necessary number just to be sure you get what you need.
Should I give you my address for my crate now, or later? Fee free to throw in anything else green you wish…may I suggest an avocado? I can drive home, and send you some snow in exchange.
The pictures are great.. LOVE the boots!!!!!
I have never heard of avocados priced per pound! Right now they are $0.89 each for large Haas at Vons.
I know.. but, this is Georgia. Avocado pricing isn’t the only thing weird going on here, trust me. Maybe it was the wrong sign. I was equally upset, as I find that fresh guacamole is at the base of my own personal food pyramid. (and the best condiment, main course, side dish, etc, known to man)
I cannot afford to eat off my own food pyramid now.
Can I use the line “fresh guacamole is at the base of my own personal food pyramid” for the rest of my life? It’s pretty awesome.
Thanks.. it came from somewhere deep inside. I really meant it. :)
Yes ma’am, of course…feel free to spread the guac cheer. But, that is, only if you truly mean it. It’s not a declaration for the faint of heart.
You look amazing! I love that outfit. The boots are just killer.
How do you get so lucky to live where oranges and avacados are plentiful? We pay good money for those things. So much so that I haven’t had oranges in months because they are so exepensive. And avacados are a real treat! If I had those growing in my backyard I would weigh 3000 lbs and never leave my house because I would be too busy making and eating guacamole!
Enjoy those a little extra for those of us stuck in the midwest!
I can’t believe how expensive avocados and oranges are for people outside CA. I paid full price ($2.99 for a 5lb bag) of clementines. Is that good or bad? I thought it was expensive, but they are my favorite and I can’t resist them.
I LOVE clementines ( probably do to my laziness…naval orange peels don’t work with a manicure). Last time I went to the store, 7.99/box. This, was a ‘sale’ price…
I think that 2.99 is killer!
That’s what I love about clementines, too! They are so easy to eat!
Gosh, I could go for a crate of both avocados and oranges. New England is indeed bitter…gorgeous in a whole different way but rather alarmingly devoid of avocados and oranges.
Home! My family is a bit further west and south, but the house came with a couple of avocado trees, orange trees, apricot and peach trees, one lemon tree. My parents added pomegranates and persimmons.
Sometimes I’m just in awe of our luck, to be living here. Southern California is magical.
P.S. Love your outfit!
It is magical, isn’t it? That’s a subject I was going to write about this week, actually.
Love the photos and especially the boots! Do you mind sharing where you found them? I’m desperately looking for boots that look like that and would fit my very muscular calves. It’s a hard hunt, I must say.
Tell me about it, sister. They are Steve Madden and I bought them last year were I buy almost everything else in my closet: MACYS.
Thanks for the tip! :)
I’m so jealous! If my family reports me missing, tell them I’m probably camping out in your mom’s back yard, all swolled up on avacados like a tick about to pop. But if the stores in the area claim to be missing a lot of tortilla chips, I don’t know anything about that. Allegedly.
“Swolled up like a tick to pop.” :)
I’m originally from Oklahoma, and my mother’s side of the family has their own language. I was raised on words like “speeyalick,” which is milk (no idea how or why), and phrases like “That baby woolled me all over this room,” which translates as “Caring for that child was quite tiring, indeed.” If you want to take someone to task, you “give ’em a good churnin’.” I’m sure it’s much the same there in the Inland Empire, which I had to Google, by the way :)
We don’t have our own language, unfortunately. There is nothing so unique to southern CA, unfortunately. No special words or accents like I hear there is in the south from my in-laws.
p.s. This: �That baby woolled me all over this room,� which translates as �Caring for that child was quite tiring, indeed.� had my husband and I laughing out loud. :)
Actually, that’s not true. I’ve heard from others that Californians say “like” a lot.
Glad I could return the favor, since you make me laugh on a near-daily basis. Love your blog so much!
What beautiful memories you are making with your family! These photos are so sweet!
YUM!! Now I’m craving avocados and oranges. I’ve been surrounded by pecans and peaches my entire life and still don’t get tired of them but it would be nice to stumble across an orange/avocado tree.