The Ruby Red Grapefruit tree in the backyard is teaching huge lessons these days.
Her waxy flowers, heavy with an intoxicating fragrance, hang beside, above, below and behind her sweet, ripe fruit.
How is this possible? How does a tree flower and fruit simultaneously?
As a Northern girl, I am accustomed to the apple trees showering us with blossoms in May, and many months later, serving up baskets of yummy, firm apples.
The life journey of the apple makes sense to me: born as a delicate flower, it matures and grows until it becomes the tart fruit. Such development mirrors how we think of our own lives...from the baby evolves the adult.
But what is the Grapefruit suggesting to me? "You can be young and mature in this moment!"
Can I live today as a fresh new being?
And when necessary, am I able to call upon
the life experience and wisdom of days gone by?
Thank you, Princess Ruby, for your lovely lesson...flooding the senses with delight. Your heavenly flowers remind me of Jasmine or Gardenia scents....and your fruit defies comparisons.
But more than these sensory treats, dear Florida Beauty Queen, I thank for demonstrating what my yoga teachers have always taught: be open and flexible like a girl, while strong and able as a woman.
