"Q" is for Quince.

 Here we go, Alpha-Thursday again. Today it is "Q"....
Come on over to Jenny's and read more...............

Alphabe-Thursday's Letter Q

The house we used to live in had a quince tree growing just outside the backyard fence. Every spring it would bloom, and grow big yellow fruit.
I didn't know anything about quinces.

One day, some of the 'city crew' were out cleaning ditches and such, and i noticed two men out by the quince tree. One of them was giving the tree the once over, he turned to the other, said something to him. The other man smiled and said something back, gesturing towards the quince tree. Then the first man reached up, picked a fruit, rubbed it against his pants and proceeded to take a big bite.

Next thing i knew, he was bent over, spitting and cursing up a storm. The other man was just standing there laughing like a loon.

That kind of gave me the idea that quinces were not good to eat. So, i forgot about the quinces tree.
Until one morning a knock came at the door. The man who knocked wanted to know if he could pick some of the quinces for his wife to prepare. I told him to go ahead and pick them all they weren't good for anything.

He did pick them all. Over the next week he came back again and again, until he had picked every fruit the tree had to offer.

A couple of days later there was a knock at the door. There stood that same man. He handed me a pitcher of some red liquid, it was still hot from the stove. He also handed me two jars of jelly. Said thank you for letting him pick the quinces and left.

Lesson learned. Not all is always as it seems. When i saw that man spitting and cursing i took it for granted that a quince was just worthless and didn't think of them again. But, let me tell you, since then, i have tasted some of the finest jelly's , punches, and pies imaginable. And i didn't have to cook a thing.

Every year that man came back. Sometimes he brought his wife and kids. They kept that quince tree busy.
That went on for about 9 years i guess. Until the city decided it was getting in the way of power lines and cut it down.

No more quince goodies for us. And i sure miss them.