He sleeps at the edge of the nursery, spends his days in the shade of the mango tree. He keeps the planks for his future coffin nearby. Old friends, the tree will ask questions. They keep him up some nights.
He has brought her branch after branch, hundreds of varieties. She shows him how you may begin with the same seed and grow two very different fruits. Like children, he says.
This is a place of study, he says, for the mangoes of the world.
We are fleeting, he says, but the fruit is eternal. We eat and stay a little while, and then we leave.
I am no scientist, he says, just a servant of this tree.
***
Inspired by (and with borrowed phrases from) recent New York Times article (by Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar) about Mango Man, also profiled here.
This was beautiful and thought provoking, Stacey.
Jef, thank you for this comment! Sending lots of good thoughts your way : )
Excellent as always.
Not sure about the planks for his coffin!
: )
Such a lovely story and post, Stacey. Where do you find these fascinating articles and photos that you often use as a prompt for your excellent writing? I would never have imagined that one tree could grow so many different varieties of mangoes. Quite amazing. Thanks for sharing this. I really enjoyed it. Xx 🌞🌹💞
Ah! I can now see that both of my comments have been published. I couldn’t see the first one when I typed the second. Sorry about that. Xx 🌞💞
Hi Ellie! I am so glad you like the article! Some mornings when I’m looking for material, I browse among a collection of sites that are either rich or quirky. The New York Times often offers gems like this Mango Man story. I used to go to great lengths finding and crediting photos from flickr’s Creative Commons material, but when I switched over to WP last year, I was delighted to learns about the Pexels photos which are provided with the service. They are all properly sized and can be used freely, so I tend to limit myself to these.
That’s really interesting, Stacey. I didn’t know that Pexels came as part of the WordPress package. Mind you, I only have the basic one, so perhaps, it’s not provided with that. I do use Pexels and other free image sites (Pixabay and Unsplash), although I do credit the picture to them if possible. You must be very dedicated to search out these articles which inspire you write so beautifully. Xx
Lol, I just need a lot of help, so I am always searching : )
Hi Stacey. I just posted a comment on this fascinating piece and said, amongst other things, how amazing this tree is. I also asked where you find such interesting articles and photos on which you often base your excellent writing. I don’t know whether you got my comment, so I thought I’d repost some of it. Sorry if you didn’t get the first one. Xx 🌞
It’s always a delight to see you here, Ellie! I love this man’s story and this tree : )