I Shoulda Had a Monkey

When I was a kid, I used to climb a big mulberry tree in the back yard. Scrambling up the tree gave me a sense of freedom. I could get on the roof from the middle of the tree but I prefered to climb higher and then hang upside down from my legs. During this phase, we had workmen at the house building an addition so that my grandfather could come live with us. The owner of the remodeling company was a nice old gentleman that nicknamed me "the Spidermonkey" for my climbing habits.

My tangerine tree has buds forming on it so all the fruit needs to be picked now. If I wait any longer, like I did last year, I'll knock the blooms off while cleaning off the tree. Last week, I picked most of the low-hanging fruit and took it to the CSA for everyone to enjoy. Over the weekend, Sharon and I picked the remaining low fruit for her to savor. All that was left was the high stuff.


I don't climb trees anymore so I needed the ladder and fruit picker this morning. After an hour, I had a bag to take to the Food Bank. I saved the smaller ones to make marmalade for my sweetie. (I don't like tangerines myself.)


This afternoon, I worked to clean off the rest of the fruit. Despite my best efforts, I simply cannot reach the high ones in the middle of the tree. I've even used the fruit picker while standing on the ladder, but they are just too high or far away. (Click on the photo to see the remaining fruit better.)


I need a monkey to climb the tree for me. I guess having my own little monkey (kid) might not have been such a bad idea after all. I hate to see the fruit go to waste up there, darn it!