Fruit, fruit, and more fruit
Ah summer, she's here! I often use what's available at the fruit and veggie store as an indicator of where we are in the year and right now, it's stone fruit time. When cherries first came out, I thought: "Can't be! Much too soon...what happened to the asparagus?" But now that the donut peaches, plums, and apricots have arrived in abundance (along with the humid heat), summer can't be denied.
Fruit seems to be a common theme these days. Last week I waited in line behind a group of northern Italians at the gelateria. Their accent sounds almost mechanical now that I'm used to the sing-songy Sicilian cadence and I found myself frustrated with their indecision in picking flavors. I mean, they're northerners, a minimum of efficiency might be expected. There were six or seven of them, couples, in their early 60s maybe, late 50s. I ended up sitting behind them on a bench, facing towards the piazza with my back to their table, in a perfect eavesdropping position.
And it's a good thing because their conversation was a real gem.
What started as a debate around whether or not lemon and chocolate gelato was a good mix (it is, I confirm) ended in a vocabulary lesson on each type of fruit and its merits. All it took was one of the men to announce that he eats fruit for breakfast. From there the list started: kiwi, bananas, pineapple, grapes, melon (striped melon, yellow melon, watermelon, orange melon, smooth melon, textured melon), cherries, pomegranate...the list goes on. It was the auditory version of hot potato, but where fruits instead of potatoes were being volleyed back and forth around the table, each one dissected, evaluated, questioned by every member of the group. When I left (what felt like twenty minutes later) they were discussing the merits of blueberries and cranberries for bladder health.
I realllllly enjoyed this conversation. I marveled at their collective ability not to tire of such a mundane topic, but also to really embrace such a thorough analysis of the fruit world. I love fruit. I love eating fruit for breakfast. But it probably wouldn't be my go-to conversation while sitting around eating gelato. (In fact, I'm usually too concentrated on finishing the gelato before it all melts to make any conversation.)
Meanwhile, my dad and sister arrived last week and are soaking in the Italian-ness of everyday life. I relayed this conversation to them and we chuckled to ourselves. How is it possible to talk so much about relatively so little? What's so interesting about fruit?
And yet...
Each night we pass by the same cafe with a gorgeous display of frutta martorana, fruit-shaped marzipan handpainted to look painstakingly realistic. Even if we have no intention of buying said sweets, we pause and look at all the options. Which one would you pick tonight? Which shapes are new? What looks the most realistic? We spend our five minutes (we're American after all, can't stretch any conversation too long) analyzing the fake fruit and enjoying the display. It always brings a smile.
Whether you want to discuss your preferred breakfast fruit or sit around looking at almond paste fruits (or just eavesdrop on others), a little wonder goes a long way. It's fun to get curious, to be playful, to list every fruit imaginable, or evaluate a marzipan fruit display just because, without any intent to purchase, to produce, to create, to do...but just to enjoy. Just for a smile.
As we step into summer, here's an invitation to get a little bit more playful and involve some child-like (or just Italian) wonder in your everyday life. Imagine you're seeing something for the first time or discussing an everyday product as though you'd never heard of it before. It doesn't have to be centered on fruit, although I'm pretty sure there's plenty of content in that category. Whatever it is, I hope you find ways to work wonder into your world!
Sending you plenty of magic, maybe a little less sunshine (since it's so hot),
Henna
PS: Belonging starts tonight with a wonderful group of ten women. I'm still taking on one-on-one clients and planning to launch another community coaching in September. Please reach out if interested!