She stood in her small outdoor kitchen putting together the ingredients for today’s lunch: grilled chicken, avocado. “Something is missing,” she thought to herself. After a brief pause, she took off from the kitchen around the corner of the building. Walking towards the front of the complex she headed straight for the door. Just outside, she stopped beneath the tall mango tree its branches chock full of fresh mangos. She scanned the ground, found a mango that appeared to have just fallen, and headed back inside. On her return walk to the kitchen, she stopped by a red pepper plant to pick one of the bright red veggies. Then, she noticed a small toddler-like mango tree that had just started bearing fruit. She picked up one more mango off the ground. “These will add the perfect pop of flavor!”, she thought as she walked quite content back to her lunchtime masterpiece. As she turned the corner to her kitchen, she couldn’t help but feel the wave of gratitude and joy that washed over her soul. How lucky was she to live in the land of mango trees? She’d been asked many times how she could give up the conveniences of her old home: air conditioning, a car, 24/7 access to hot water, and convenience in all its forms. But the question she tends to ask is: How could she live without the mango trees?
My outdoor kitchen. It’s pretty awesome!
Some mangos straight from the tree in my yard.
