They're my favorite fruit ever.
I remember my first one. I was working at a youth shelter in Ewa, basically getting paid room and board for being on call twenty-four hours a day, six days a week. I had to be within twenty minutes of the shelter whenever I was on call, and I didn't yet have a car (I'd just come home after graduating UH-Hilo), so my traveling radius was REALLY short. I took my mountain bike out into what used to be the cane fields all over the Ewa plain.
One afternoon, on my way home to the shelter from several hours of riding around in the red dirt, I stopped at the supermarket in Ewa Beach and saw in the produce section the ugliest oranges. Huge, disgusting-looking fruits called Ka`u oranges. I picked one up. Smelled it. Held it to my face to try and figure out what the heck this was. A woman nearby said, "Take it home and try it. You'll be back for more."
So I bought the ugliest-looking fruit in the bin, took it home, stuck it in the fridge, cleaned my bike up, took a shower, peeled the orange, and O H MY G O S H! The sweetest, juciest, orangiest orange in the world. I swear, tears came to my eyes, I was in such bliss. That lady was right. I came back for more that very night.
Lately, it's been harder to find good ones. I know the farmers on the Big Island were having problems with thieves a few years ago, but did that cut into production? Someone told me they got discouraged and decided not to farm oranges anymore. All I know is that the oranges I get at my neighborhood supermarket now are very small--tangerine-sized--and most of them aren't as juicy. They're still sweet as heck, but they're just not the same. I may be imagining this, but they don't even seem as ugly as they used to be.
Does anyone have a source? I'm getting nervous. I'll settle for what I can get, but if you know where I can get really good ones, I promise not to spread it around!
I remember my first one. I was working at a youth shelter in Ewa, basically getting paid room and board for being on call twenty-four hours a day, six days a week. I had to be within twenty minutes of the shelter whenever I was on call, and I didn't yet have a car (I'd just come home after graduating UH-Hilo), so my traveling radius was REALLY short. I took my mountain bike out into what used to be the cane fields all over the Ewa plain.
One afternoon, on my way home to the shelter from several hours of riding around in the red dirt, I stopped at the supermarket in Ewa Beach and saw in the produce section the ugliest oranges. Huge, disgusting-looking fruits called Ka`u oranges. I picked one up. Smelled it. Held it to my face to try and figure out what the heck this was. A woman nearby said, "Take it home and try it. You'll be back for more."
So I bought the ugliest-looking fruit in the bin, took it home, stuck it in the fridge, cleaned my bike up, took a shower, peeled the orange, and O H MY G O S H! The sweetest, juciest, orangiest orange in the world. I swear, tears came to my eyes, I was in such bliss. That lady was right. I came back for more that very night.
Lately, it's been harder to find good ones. I know the farmers on the Big Island were having problems with thieves a few years ago, but did that cut into production? Someone told me they got discouraged and decided not to farm oranges anymore. All I know is that the oranges I get at my neighborhood supermarket now are very small--tangerine-sized--and most of them aren't as juicy. They're still sweet as heck, but they're just not the same. I may be imagining this, but they don't even seem as ugly as they used to be.
Does anyone have a source? I'm getting nervous. I'll settle for what I can get, but if you know where I can get really good ones, I promise not to spread it around!
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