Fall in the Subtropics

Well, it's here. Unusually large tropical fruit season has arrived at stores near us.

This jackfruit 波羅蜜 weighs more than 10 pounds -a tiny one- and is about $1.00 a pound. I think the taste is a little like a cross between a guava and banana. We'll chop it up, take out the meat and package it for friends. The inside has this resin that really sticks to the fingers so we like to do it in one sitting.

Fresh durian fruit 榴蓮 and papayas are also getting cheaper. I like durian fruit. It's the smelliest but best tasting fruit in the world. It also looks interesting both inside and outside. One of our friends compared dissecting durian to brain surgery. I still remember taking a fresh one to an international bible study and seeing the reactions of friends from different parts of the world. Those that were used to it were really excited to give it a try. Those that were from more northern nations thought a skunk had walked by...but liked it anyway once they tried a bite.

I wanted to plant a durian tree in our backyard. A complete tropical, it would survive in this climate with a little TLC in the wintertime, but my wife grew up with durian trees. She is afraid someone will be killed by falling fruit.

There are some tropicals from other places that we don't have here yet. Taiwan's wax apple 蓮霧, red dragon fruit 火 龍 果 (I don't know what the real name is in English) and others are not here yet.

On bargains:

I wanted to buy a book on a particular topic. In the morning I found an English-language paperback at an upscale bookstore for more than $17.00. Then I checked out the Chinese-language bookstore I wrote about in the last post and found a more well-written book -a new book- on the same exact topic for 80 cents!