Green olives
While on the subject of olives, I'd like to pass on this tale, of a prank played on me by a good, now deceased. friend. This old friend, and his twin brother, also deceased, were teenage friends of mine, In central Ohio, Those friends were farmers, and I sometimes helped them farm their land. When his unmarried brother died, the other brother, moved their farm equipment, and his family, to the San Joaquin Valley, in California, and started a large farm/orchard there. One year while on vacation, my family, and I visited him and his family. We reminisced, and shared many meals together, and I told them of my love of olives. He asked, if I'd ever tried them picked fresh from the tree, and I said that I hadn't. He said 'well, you've missed the boat, that's how olives taste the best. He then said there's an olive grove nearby, and tomorrow we'll go there, and let you pick some olives fresh off the trees. On the way to that olive grove, the next day I was told that, since fresh olives were such a delicacy, that people stole olives off the trees all the time, and the grove owners, carefully guarded the groves with shotguns and would shoot a thief on sight. He said, I'll park along the road, you run in, grab a handful of Olives, run back and get into the car as quick as you can. when we were safely moving down the road, I popped that handful of olives into my mouth and began too chew them. Well, folks, unprocessed olives are bitter as gall, and they about turned my mouth inside out. As I spit those bitter things out the window, I thought that my old buddy, would surely wreck the car as he was laughing uncontrollably. That was the best prank I've ever had pulled on me.
Chubbo
