Toni Award

My Italian neighbor, Tony, is a very generous sort.  In the summer I receive figs, greens, arugula, parsley, plums and asian pears.  I gratefully accept them all.

So the other day when I found a bucket of lovely assorted fruits on my front porch, I automatically thought it was Tony.  That afternoon, as I headed out on an errand, he was out front.  I quickly penned a "thank you" and put it in the bucket to return to him.  But something was off.  When I told him how much I appreciated the beautiful fruit, the colors, the smells, he looked at me rather blankly and a bit confused.  He speaks English quite well, and I was certain he understood me.  Either way, I left the bucket on his front steps.

Mother Nature's master artistry of colors and shapes:  Abundance

Two hours later, I checked email.  Toni, a dear friend who had recently moved to a small acreage with many fruit trees, was checking in with "by now you've probably found the bucket of fruit I left on your front porch."   Tony's befuddlement was now clear at least to me (he is probably still scratching his head.)  Immediate of the Things I get to do today is run across the street to Tony's and get Toni's bucket back.  Maybe Toni (Tony) means "great, big generous heart."

Flesh of a Fig

Not quite saggy sweet,
though the one on the top right is beginning to wrinkle.

When the door bell rings, I don't always answer.  Today I peeked from the office and saw Tony's reflection in the glass of a wall photo.  Safe.  And sweet!  Tony's my darling Italian neighbor who knows I go crazy over Italian Prunes, Italian Parsley, Italian Cucumbers, and the figs this fellow grows in his back yard.

Today he had shuffled across the street with a generous bowl of figs, this time from his brother's trees.  He blushed when I told him to give his brother a hug and a kiss for me.

Extravagant and exquisite

The fig flesh in this picture still lingers in my mouth, the memory fresh and nearly obscene in it's pleasure, proof that the Great Creator of All takes pleasure in our pleasure.  Lovely to be surprised by the Things I get to do today--bask in the splendor of a honey-dripping, saggy-fleshed fig.