The Old Lemon Tree

Lemon tree very pretty and the lemon flower is sweet
But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.

I'm not sure why I loved that old lemon tree. It wasn't very well shaped - actually, it wasn't shaped at all. The tree had long, ugly thorns, and the lemons were dark green and covered with fuzz. They were obviously not edible.

The ugly old tree stood, just to the right, at the end of the front walk in front of my Granny’s house. It was in the middle of the yard, so I have to assume that it had been planted on purpose. I never asked who and why, and so many years later I wish I had.

In the spring, the tree had small white blooms and shortly after, the ugly lemon fruit began to form and grow. My younger male cousins used them for ammunition as they played “War” against each other. Thankfully, no one ever tried to use the long thorns against one another!

I don’t know when the old tree was removed or who did it. I just know that one day, it was gone, and I was sad. Perhaps I was the only grandchild who had an affinity for the old tree. It didn’t matter to me that it was unsightly. Not everything or everyone, on this earth, is pretty. It had a place in my history and in my life, and like many other things and many other people, it was gone.

Lemon tree very pretty (this one wasn’t) and the lemon flower is sweet.

But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat. 

#lemontree #ugly #memories