One of my favourite fruits and one that always has been associated with the Yuletide season for me is the Clementine. Small, sweet and seedless, it is a member of the citrus family that is superior to all others in my view. Clementines are one of the great delights on Christmas morning, slipped into the Stockings with chocolates, nuts, small gifts and other trifles.
I had my first Clementine of the season yesterday. They are sold often in boxes imported from Morocco and Spain. Clementines now are being grown in the States as well, but have not achieved the sweetness of their counterparts.
In any case, the Clementine I chose from the box yesterday was slightly tart and rather disappointing, but it delivered a promise at least that I would be able to enjoy more of its brethren on the morrow.
In fact, I chose another Clementine this morning and ate it, expecting no better from it than its predecessor gave in enjoyment. To my delight, it was perfection. It was so good that I wanted to eat another one immediately. In the past, I have surrendered to greed and done precisely that, only to be disappointed again.
I realised this morning that there is a lesson in this from Nature. No two natural fruits are alike. Each one is different, even from the same tree. One can be sweet and the next sour. One can be tender and the next not so tender. In order to appreciate the perfection of the Clementine I had this morning, I had to STOP THERE. If I had taken another Clementine, it would have superimposed its flavour on the perfection of the first...
A lesson against Greed. Savour one Clementine when it gives perfection rather than desiring to repeat the experience immediately.
Perhaps it is not profound, but it certainly contains some truth.
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