To me, one thing that really sums up my holiday spirit is a tangerine: bright, sweet, with a tangy surprise that you need to unwrap. When I was growing up in Soviet Union, we didn't have that many fruits in winter, as there are available now. For New Year's - our only winter holiday - we used to get подарок (literally - a gift), a bag filled with goodies: 1 apple, 1 orange, 3-5 tangerines, suckers, Lemon Drops, fudge, some chocolates, and walnuts. This was a classic present that every Soviet child received throughout their kindergarten and grade school years. Of course, our parents bought us other gifts, but this was a highlight of celebration, because the entire class would chip in on those goodies, and parents would sort them in individual bags.
Every year, I would get a photograph of myself in a carnival costume holding my podarok, with tangerines in it. Knowing that this would be one of the few opportunities to eat them, I would prioritize all the stuff in my goodie bag to ensure the continuity of my tangerine indulgence. The last thing in the bag would be a tangerine.
Then, the year when my aunt left the Soviet Union, my parents traveled to Moscow and to Lithuania for her stuff and brought home ... a huge case of tangerines! Right in time for New Year's! They spread them on a blanket in the corner of our living room in order to prevent rotting, and for the first time we could eat all the tangerines we wanted. The continuity of indulgence was guaranteed by a pile remaining on the blanket. I was sick that winter and had to be quarantined (or maybe it was just an excuse for more tangerines?). I remember picking out just 3 to 5 tangerines at a time, placing them on a brass tray and eating them slowly, enjoying every segment. I don't think I ever got to the point where I couldn't eat them anymore. I just kept going back to the pile with my brass tray, until only bad ones were left...
A couple of years ago, here in Denver, I was walking home from work. It was just a couple of days before Christmas, lots of snow, and pretty chilly. On the 14th & Grant, a homeless man asked me if I had any change to spare. I didn't. "But", I said. "I have some tangerines. Would you like some?" He enthusiastically replied yes. I reached in my purse and pulled out 3 bright tangerines and placed them in his hands which he held like a bowl. "Thank you", he said, and from his voice I could really tell that he would enjoy them. I don't remember his face or what he was wearing. Just those tangerines in his bowl shaped hands. Bright orange surrounded by white, cold snow.
Happy Holidays!
mmm fresh pineapple is my tangerine!
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