A Citrus Kind of Day

There’s a small citrus grove on the ranch on a quiet spot near a stream. It’s a little oasis in the middle of cowland. The grove used to be much larger, but now all that’s left is a couple of orange trees. Wes and I made our way out to the grove just around sunset when we were at the ranch last weekend. We wanted to see if the oranges were still good considering it’s so late in the season. A few things became apparent on our excursion:

1. Cowboys are territorial.

How do you keep unwanted vagrants from plundering your orange supply? Create a bilingual sign that warns of toxic fruit.

2. Cowboys need to be more creative.

Having a bilingual sign is a good start, but having it say “Don’t pick oranges. You will be shot” would be more believable than “Don’t pick oranges. Toxic”. That’s a cliché.

3. This Valley girl needs to work on appropriate footwear.

Am I trying to broadcast a fish-out-of-water, yes I’m not from around here message? Even Cocoa came prepared. And I’m pretty sure I was standing in a mixture of poop and dirt.

4. I love this place.

I’d take this over the Valley any day.