The Best Orange

Dan spent his high school summers working in the family orange groves. His dad bought groves that needed cleaning up/fixing up. Dan spent every day from dawn to dusk cutting down orange trees, pruning orange trees, running miles of irrigation pipe, and spraying the groves with weed-killer, among other duties. He also learned how to drive at age 14 in the orange groves. His family also raised carnivorous snails in their garage which they then set free in the orange groves - these snails would eat the common brown snails (their cousins - eeww!) which loved to eat their oranges. The carnivorous snails didn't eat oranges, just snails. Ever since those days, Dan has had an unrequited love for farming/ranching. Unfortunately, we've never owned a home that was set on more than 1/4 acre. Even now, our home is on a city-sized lot. But now Dan is determined to grow some mighty citrus trees in the backyard for our enjoyment. He planted an orange tree last February. I didn't really notice it. I thought that it would take years for it to grow and bear fruit. I looked out the office window about 3 weeks ago and saw 4 huge oranges hanging from the tree. That same night, there was a freeze warning. So Dan rigged up a "greenhouse" for the tree. A blanket, a tarp (it's green) and a lamp. It seems to be working so far. Then a couple of days ago, Dan picked an orange for me to try. It was absolutely wonderful. The best orange ever. Meaty and juicy and sweet and tart. Perfect!