The Character of an Olive Tree

The character of an olive tree isn't in the olives as those are its expression or its flavor.  The character of the tree is in the trunk that bears the weight of those olives through the centuries and it's beautiful how it ages.  This tree isn't even that old but it's already taking on the character it will show in its life and it will get more fascinating with every year.

Olive trees can live for hundreds of years and there's a spiritual relationship between the trees and those who grow them and those who understand them.  Olive oil has been used for incredible purposes including the anointing of royalty, sacrifices to the gods, and so many other things.  It is much more than a consumer product, particularly to those who take care of them.

Part of the civilization or the character of Greece is in its regard for olive trees as they're everywhere.  I don't know what would happen if one willfully chopped one down but I would not be the one who did it to find out.  There are fields where countless of them grow wild and they're marvelous to behold.  I'll get some pictures of those as well.

Maybe you're wondering when there will be pictures of ruins to show the history of Greece but, in many ways, olive trees are the history of Greece as the relationship with them goes back for thousands of years.  The relationship is obviously a traditional thing but it's also deeply spiritual and this might be like being a New Yorker in that one has to be born there to fully understand The City but openness to that spiritualism is definitely a first step.