Bearing fruit

Long-time readers know that I have an orange tree in my living room, a tree planted by Shaggy Hair Boy about twelve years ago at Blonde Sister's house. The tree belongs to Shaggy Hair, but I'm the one who waters it. And I have to prune it pretty often because the branches brush against the ceiling. The tree has lots of glossy green leaves and sharp thorns, but it has never actually produced fruit. Until now.

The other day, the boys were jamming in the living room, and I was in the midst of my annual pre-holiday cleaning binge, which involves pulling out stuff piled in corners of the house and yelling at the kids to choose what crap they want to keep because I'm going to get rid of it all right now, this very instant. Usually, the kids avoid me when I'm doing projects like that, but instead, Boy in Black and Older Neighbor Boy began yelling for me to come and look at the orange tree.

I figured it was some kind of a joke. I came and stared at the branch they were pointing at. I couldn't see anything.

"Right there, Mom," said Boy in Black. "Look closer!"

Then I saw it: a little green fruit, the size of a golf ball, hanging precariously from the tip of a branch. Fruit! On our orange tree!

Everyone in the house came running to look at it. Then I looked into the branches near the ceiling, the ones that get pushed up against the window when the musicians shove the tree out of their way. There I saw another small, misshapen piece of fruit. And this one was even orange!

Since Blonde Sister was in Big City Like No Other, we made a video on my daughter's cell phone and sent it to her. Yes, we made a video of an orange that was just hanging on a tree, doing absolutely nothing. We do lead exciting lives.

Of course, family members who haven't seen the fruit yet are skeptical. One sister came up with the theory that someone sneaked into the house at night, ignored the four laptop computers in the living room, and quietly super-glued fruit to the tree. "You need to start locking your doors," she said.

When we talked over the phone yesterday to the family gathered in the city, Blonde Sister insisted on talking to With-a-Why, to hear the story from him. I don't think she's really going to believe it until she sees the orange with her own eyes. Or reads about it on my blog.