In the far corner of the back yard in Arleta,
there stood a huge avocado tree
that had long since given up
producing any avocados.
Then one year, the guys (Bob & Kelly) discovered
that a huge branch of the tree was rotting away
and in danger of coming down on the metal shed
we had put up after the guys had torn down
a rotten old wooden shed that us to be on that spot.
They moved the metal shed to one side
and Kelly climbed up into the tree
and sitting on the trunk of the tree,
just slightly out on the big branch,
he began to saw on the dead branch;
it was so heavy that
when it fell
it shook the house
and Kelly reported
it shook him up too–
he knew, logically, that HE wasnt
going to fall but the impact
of the branch was enough to
shake the ground.
It took Bob a long time to cut up
all of that wood
but the most remarkable thing about this story is
that early the following spring,
avocados began to appear on the tree–
not just a few avocados–but hundreds
and I counted two hundred and fifty avocados
from which I made the biggest batch of guacamole
you have ever seen; I packed it into zip lock bags
and laid the bags flat in the freezer.
We had guacamole for about a year
or maybe two.
That tree was home to many of our feathered friends
and I had photographed an owl and a red-tailed hawk
along with the other birds
that rested there from time to time.
It was a beautiful tree;
I was happy to make its acquaintance.
Sandra Lee Smith
July 11, 2010
Updated September 6, 2018