Picking Olives

 

No, that's not allegorical, it's literally what we did today.

Here in Nanango, we're in early fall. Imagine it as a late summer day in Tuscany. Lots of sunlight and dry, clear air. In the grove on the side of gently rolling hill, there are 400 olive trees and thousands of beautiful olives. (Want to come yet? ;-))

Celine and I were picking the kalamatas (a favorite of mine), and Charles and Dave were up the hill picking a smaller but equally dark variety of olives. We had gotten a later start in the morning than planned because the olive trees owner's son, daughter-in-law, and grandson had been visiting and the latter had apparently been playing wth the phone. (Grandparents and parents will understand what this means, others can use their imaginations.)

When Celine couldn't get through on the phone, we all decided to get in the car and drive to Olive Oasis to see if Malcolm and Beverly were around. They were, and Mal joined us in the picking (after hanging up the phone).

If you’re wondering about a Buddhist nun picking olives; no, it’s not in the job description. But according with conditions and not wasting food are, so I happily joined in. The others were going and the olives needed to be picked. Celine had volunteered to help a friend harvest his crop and Mal had offered to split the profits from the sale of the olives at the monthly market this weekend. So our share would go the Amitabha Buddhist Retreat Centre.

First lesson—friendship. Celine and Charles wanted to help a neighbor who was recovering from an operation. Dave, an old friend of theirs, was visiting the centre to help all of us.

Second lesson—generosity. Not wanting to take advantage, Mal and Beverly offered to share the income from the sale of the olives.

Third lesson—patience! I picked a lot of blueberries when I was growing up and olives are, fortunately, larger than blueberries, but there were a LOT of olives and, hey, I’m not a kid anymore. (Unless you compare me to Charles who’s ninety-three. Fourth lesson—relativity in accordance with perception.) Some olives were over ripe and others still green. Some were high on the trees and others low. Some in the shade and many others in the bright sun.

The olives needed to be picked one at a time, although some were in a group of three or four. And some very cooperatively just fell off the branches and landed in my bucket. (Yes, buckets again…must be destiny or something…)

So today was a good day, a day filled with friendship, generosity, and patience.