Isabel Allende says ..

 

I keep seeing quotations shared on Facebook, mostly done up

on the computer, with fonts and photographs. But there's nothing 

like ink! (Except pencil). 

For Lunar.

The decluttering goes on. And so I find scribbles and doodles I'd forgotten about. Here's one I did one day last year, after visiting a fellow blogger's site.   I was thinking about her courage and indestructability.

The first mango of the year.

Top row, left to right: Alphonso, Alphonso.
Bottom row, centre: Portugese tiled trivet, a gift from Tiago

The first mango of the year! So divine! You'd think. But no,
the first mango of the year was divine only in the sense that
it brought me much wisdom, through these life-altering
learning experiences that I shall always remember:

Lesson #1:  The first mango of the year is not the same thing
as the first mango of the season.

Lesson #2:  Just because you are formally introduced to him
by your friendly neighbourhood abundantly-moustached
fruit-selling chap, does not mean your relationship with
Alphonso will be sweet.

Lesson #3: To every thing, there is a season. I believe a certain
Mr Ecclesiastes came up with this beautiful phrase centuries ago,
one hot Arabian summer when mangoes arrived early,
or perhaps it was dates.

A veritable visual treat. Or not.

Lesson #4: Just because a venerable Mr Ecclesiastes' words have
been immortalised, we learn our best lessons not from someone else's
words, but from our own experience.

Lesson #5:  Looks can be deceiving.

Lesson #6:  Some things are worth waiting for.

Those last sweet moments before Alphonso's cruel deception was unmasked.

Lesson #7:  Properly ripened mangoes are one of these things.

Lesson #8:  There is a reason behind the season.

Lesson #9:  The season is grape, not mango.

Lesson #10:  You can write about the silliest things on your blog
and someone out there who loves you enough, will read it.


(16 April 2014) A post-script:  Lesson #11. You should re-read your post about the first mango of the year every year before salivating over the first alphonso. Otherwise you are doomed to repeat your mistakes. This is why they teach a subject called History in schools.