redtree_innerview_native_persimmon redtree interesting name. the tree, i read, grows wild in southern indiana. is that where you are from? why did you give yourself the name? 051120 ... . ? 061212 ... native_persimmon Indiana, no, no, rather Massachusetts- When I was very little, every day my father would get up at 4:30 a.m. before his long commute to work to make individual fruit bowls (with an added sliver of cheese) for my brothers and me. Every morning before school, they would always be waiting for us, each one a little different – My older brother didn't like bananas, my little brother refused even slightly mushy grapes and kiwi skin, and I a vacuum for anything and everything but with a special pleasure dervied from the bright and exotic. Persimmons were not the average kindergartner's favorite fruit ( in fact, most of my friends have still never seen one), but my dad intoduced me to them knowing full-well I'd demand more - vibrant orange vellum holding in pungently sweet guts to be squeezed smooth on the roof of my mouth. A delight- Thus motivated, I planted a native persimmon tree, and over a decade it has grown to be the largest and healthiest in our small family orchard. Initially, I had to wait a few years until the first fruiting - a child's lesson in patience indeed. But when the fruits appeared, they were not the same, they were not what I had wanted. Unlike the voluptuous, fleshy imported Asian variety, these were tight dulled taws topped with a desiccated crown, bitter and sinewy - native to this land. I might have turned my back. But these were to become the persimmons of my mother- she learned and taught me that these native persimmons turn sweet when left on the branch through the frost, until the point of rotting when they drop free themselves. They are not very good eaten alone, but add a spicy, complex, musty flavor to pastries my mother bakes. These pastries my mother would send to me when I lived away from home and the orchard - whether states or countries apart. Perhaps she will send me some on this next adventure of mine, to Thailand, where I shall have months to savor their native persimmons – the vibrant orange vellum, the pungent flesh, those exotic fruits my dad first put in my fruit bowl, knowing full-well I'd demand more- 061213 ... native_persimmon I heard red trees can be found all over? 061214 ... redtree interesting question, multi-faceted actually. i can answer it several different ways. i guess i already defined what a redtree is in a previous post. as for an actual red tree, we have a redbud at robin_hill. with its tiny pinkish-red flowers adorning the branches as if they've been dipped in honey made of actual blossoms. it is a much anticipated heralder of spring at our little farm along with daffodils, tulips, lilacs, and the such. in summer it has huge heart-shaped leaves. one july in a windstorm we almost lost it and i had to do minor surgery on it to save it. redtrees are found all over, those people who love life and want to spend it gnawing on the bones. i hope you have one in your life, because we all need them to inspire and entertain us. and what we can give them just as you did for me is to respond to their interest and so thouroughly and interstingly as you did. i loved your post. actually i love when we tie childhood memories around our souls, beautifully colored strings that keep us from falling apart. i would love to hear about your adventures. what was the last one? where did you go? what happened? what did you give? take away? how did you preserve it? how has it changed you? you know, all that stuff that keeps native_persimmon evolving, growing, and maturing... 061215 what's it to you? who go blather from