Feb 2012
8
Her no got to me. I’d waited since December for the call, patiently phoning twice more to leave messages. In the meantime, my family hauled in a mountain of manure, eight bales of straw and a truckload of mulch to prepare the front lawn for a garden. Now the phone rang with the answer, an explanation that was lengthy, convoluted and bureaucratic, but when boiled down was simply no. Please, I’d said, please, there must be a way for us to find a compromise, for me to get my sun and you to get one tree closer to achieving the city’s desired canopy coverage. But she didn’t want to talk about middle ground, so the conversation ended with a terse goodbye.
My hand that held the receiver shook.
This maple tree would grow slowly and steadily, its shadow enlarging each year until the house and I were engulfed in darkness, the lavender and tomatoes and peas and roses yellowed and stunted, and my own face a pale moon from lack of sun. I imagined fighting the decision, of uncovering city documents that supported my position, of meeting with a supervisor, of seeking help from my city councilman. I imagined backing into the sapling with its trunk no bigger than my wrist, of poisoning it, of moving it under the cover of night.
I will do none of this.
But this is what I vow: When this sugar maple towers over me, and my children’s children climb in its branches, I will tap its trunk for syrup and make it bleed.
Denise’s curiosity over oranges sent me searching, but I came home with only the common clementine. That’s okay. My weekend holds a promise of sunshine and mint tea, cake and friends and clementines in ginger syrup. I cannot peel an orange without thinking of Gary Soto’s young man, just 12 years old, and his girl, so I leave you with a segment of his poem and a small recipe. What will your weekend hold?
“Oranges”
By Gary Soto
… I took my girl’s hand
In mine for two blocks,
Then released it to let
Her unwrap the chocolate.
I peeled my orange
That was so bright against
The gray of December
That, from some distance,
Someone might have thought
I was making a fire in my hands.
Clementines in ginger syrup
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, February 2008
Serves 4
In a sauce pan, bring 1 1/2 cups of water, 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup thinly sliced and peeled ginger, 4 green cardamom pods and 3 whole star anise to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep, covered for another 15 minutes. Strain syrup and chill until cold, at least 2 hours. Cut the peel from six clementines with a sharp knife, then cut into 1/4-inch thick rounds and place them in a bowl. Pour chilled syrup over the fruit and return to fridge for at least 1 hour. Just before serving, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
