Touching A Heart

This is my Sweetsop Tree. It’s one of my favorite fruits. I planted it myself and watched it grew from a seedling to a monster of a tree. It spreads out on the street and next door, giving shade from the Sun and a cool breeze when it’s hot. It bears more than three times per year, providing many feasts for birds, rats, and humans annually. Sweetsop trees are common here in Jamaica and are in many yards.

This is my Mango Tree. They say it’s a Bastard Julie mango. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but they are delicious when ripe, and I use them to make mango-carrot and mango-pineapple juice. I also share the mangoes with everyone in my community, family, and friends. I didn’t plant it. It came with the house, but we nurtured and watered it. It also provides many a feasts for rats, and birds throughout the years. Like most of the sweet and delicious fruits that grow all over Jamaica.

My mango tree spreads out in any direction following the Sun, and most of the fruits are on the street and next door, again in the Sun’s path. We don’t cut the tree, so when it’s mango season, lots of mangoes hang on the sidewalk where anyone passes can pick and enjoy a delicious fruit. My mango tree bears fruits even when it’s not mango season. Anyone passing can pick mangoes without my husband and I knowing. We have no problem with that. But we do have a problem with what has transpired that day. I am in my backyard when I heard a loud commotion at my gate and went to investigate.

As I walk towards the gate, someone knocked on it, calling me. I stepped out and saw many green mangoes and leaves on the sidewalk and in the street.

A young man stood a few feet away, his face in a knot. I felt his pain.

A lady explains, “he saw one ripe mango, instead of borrowing a stick from my yard next door, or your yard, or anyone, he started throwing stones up in the tree. Look,” she points to the mangoes on the sidewalk and in the street.

“The stones he keeps throwing hit twelve green mangoes before the ripe one came down. I took it away, and he isn’t getting it,” she cursed.

When the birds and the rats are hungry, they seek out the ripe fruits. They usually leave the half-eaten fruit in the tree. When we see it, we let it stay because they often come back to finish it. They know when the fruits are ripe before many of us.

I find that amazing.

They don’t touch the green ones or the unfit ones, allowing them to stay on the tree to feed both humans and animals. They eat only the ripe ones. Is that kindness or what?

That is amazing too.

Knowing when any fruits are fit enough to be picked is an Art. Some say it’s a skill; others say it’s a technique. Farmers or anyone born and raised in the country knows more about agriculture than those who live in the city. That includes I. But I am a fast learner. I love to eat, so I must learn about the foods I consume.

Yet, humans who are supposed to be smarter see one ripe mango and are willing to destroy 12 green ones before they get it, denying others. How inconsiderate is that?

I see that when I walk, someone will throw stones up a mango tree, and many green mangoes come down before the ripe one.

I love reading minds and characters, and humans tell a lot about themselves by their actions, choices, and decisions. Animals tend to be kinder than many humans.

Are humans the smartest of the species?

Animals teach me a lot, and I love many of their hearts. The kindness that many of them give to each other is heart-touching.

When was the last time humanity’s actions, choices, and decisions touched your heart?

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.

Touch a heart today with kindness.