Today is Harry's Name Day and that's a very big thing in Greece and many other parts of Europe as this is a day of your association with one of the saints. Of course, America has forgotten all about name days in its blind quest for individuality in which it only celebrates the fear of each step toward death and the meager joy in what things one can get on each birthday.
So I went to wish Harry a good Name Day and he was surprised to see I knew of it but rather than me giving him anything, he started giving me stuff. There was some official business with some papers for insurance but much better than that he gave me a big bag of oranges. He dismissed his gift by saying oranges are worth nothing this time of year in Greece but I appreciated them nevertheless.
The reason oranges don't have much value right now is there are so many from the end of the harvest season that it's like the end of the summer in America when people harvest their home-grown tomatoes. They invariably plant so many of them that there are home-grown tomatoes all over the place and people can't even give them away even though they are spectacularly delicious, much better than anything from a supermarket.
Right now, it costs more to harvest oranges than the grower can realise in selling them so people give them away or simply tell friends to come to pick them off the trees and take whatever they can carry. You have noticed in one of the Ride to Katakolo videos that there are still oranges on the trees here. In February!
Harry also told me about Roka (known as Arugula (Eruca sativa) or Rocket elsewhere) and it's an edible grass. He looked around a little bit to pull some out of the yard and we stood out there for a bit in a light rain eating the grass. Roka is quite good and has much more character than lettuce. He said it's frequently eaten with olive oil as a salad.
So, Happy Name Day to Harry!
So I went to wish Harry a good Name Day and he was surprised to see I knew of it but rather than me giving him anything, he started giving me stuff. There was some official business with some papers for insurance but much better than that he gave me a big bag of oranges. He dismissed his gift by saying oranges are worth nothing this time of year in Greece but I appreciated them nevertheless.
The reason oranges don't have much value right now is there are so many from the end of the harvest season that it's like the end of the summer in America when people harvest their home-grown tomatoes. They invariably plant so many of them that there are home-grown tomatoes all over the place and people can't even give them away even though they are spectacularly delicious, much better than anything from a supermarket.
Right now, it costs more to harvest oranges than the grower can realise in selling them so people give them away or simply tell friends to come to pick them off the trees and take whatever they can carry. You have noticed in one of the Ride to Katakolo videos that there are still oranges on the trees here. In February!
Harry also told me about Roka (known as Arugula (Eruca sativa) or Rocket elsewhere) and it's an edible grass. He looked around a little bit to pull some out of the yard and we stood out there for a bit in a light rain eating the grass. Roka is quite good and has much more character than lettuce. He said it's frequently eaten with olive oil as a salad.
So, Happy Name Day to Harry!
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