A Reminder of Grandpa

Saturday as we visited with one of the couples from our church they happily showed us the many fruit trees and plants growing in their yard and on their property.



When they showed us the persimmon tree it reminded me of fall days when my Grandpa, in the Missouri Ozarks, would pick a persimmon and cut it open to see the shape revealed inside. He'd say the shape would predict how hard the following winter would be. The shape of a spoon would predict there would be much snow shoveling. The shape of a knife would predict a lot of ice to be cut. The shape of a fork would predict a mild winter. My husband asked if the predictions were ever accurate and you know, I don't even remember if they ever were! I just remember Grandpa always did this, and then would always invite us to taste the persimmon, which would always be so bitter we'd spit it back out and he'd grin just as if it were the first time he'd played the trick on us. When I shared the story with our friends, Fermin went to pick Marty and I each a persimmon so we could cut them and predict the winter. Since winters are always rather mild here in South Central Texas, I'm not sure the same predictions apply, but it's been fun to remember Grandpa in this way.

A photo of Grandpa and me taken several years ago:



When I cut open the perimmons this is what I found. Not sure if it's a knife shape or how Grandpa might predict a Texas winter, but it was fun to relive a memory that I hadn't though about in years.