Hey, Mr. Tangerine Man
It's almost time for the, uh, Outta Stater Gators and those who live where it's SO HOT right now!!! to make the long trip back to Gainesville for the start of the fall semester. Because I love to travel and also because of a weird recent abundance of weddings (great) and funerals (not so good) in my life, I have more Gville airport and road trip stories than I know what to do with...so I figured it'd be fun to talk about them for the next few days. If you have any of your stories of your own to share, please feel free to e-mail them to ufalleygator@gmail.com.
My favorite time to fly is at night. My least favorite time to fly is in the morning. So, in a moment of pure brilliance, I scheduled a flight for 6 am on a Monday morning. And the guy next to me wanted to talk.
I'm not exactly a good conversationalist when I'm half asleep, but I didn't mind listening. Pretty soon I realized that this guy had exactly one topic of conversation. It wasn't anything you'd expect from a perfect stranger - not the weather, not Gainesville, not work, not even the family he was going to visit (okay, so he did mention them in passing). No...this guy was obsessed with oranges. Actually, tangerines. (And if he knew what I just posted, you'd probably be treated to a kind but slightly dry lecture on the difference between the two.)
I learned more about tangerines then I ever thought anyone could learn about ANY subject on a 45-minute flight. Of course, I forget it all the second I stepped off the plane, but he was nice enough to give me a couple of his home-grown tangerines to take with me when we parted ways. I didn't even realize that people grew that type of fruit so far north (although I suppose Gainesville could have a booming business that I don't know about).
And I have to admit, they were pretty damn good.
My favorite time to fly is at night. My least favorite time to fly is in the morning. So, in a moment of pure brilliance, I scheduled a flight for 6 am on a Monday morning. And the guy next to me wanted to talk.
I'm not exactly a good conversationalist when I'm half asleep, but I didn't mind listening. Pretty soon I realized that this guy had exactly one topic of conversation. It wasn't anything you'd expect from a perfect stranger - not the weather, not Gainesville, not work, not even the family he was going to visit (okay, so he did mention them in passing). No...this guy was obsessed with oranges. Actually, tangerines. (And if he knew what I just posted, you'd probably be treated to a kind but slightly dry lecture on the difference between the two.)
I learned more about tangerines then I ever thought anyone could learn about ANY subject on a 45-minute flight. Of course, I forget it all the second I stepped off the plane, but he was nice enough to give me a couple of his home-grown tangerines to take with me when we parted ways. I didn't even realize that people grew that type of fruit so far north (although I suppose Gainesville could have a booming business that I don't know about).
And I have to admit, they were pretty damn good.
posted by alleygator at 11:36 AM
3 Comments:
By far north, do you mean Alachua County? Because the area was a big citrus producer until a few catastrophic freezes made commercial growers move to central Florida. And the University grows plenty of citrus for research purposes.
Learn something new every day!
I believe this man was a South Fla native who moved to Gainesville for the sole reason of growing/casually selling his fruit. Still kind of an odd place to pick especially when his family ties are elsewhere (and warmer), but maybe he found a good deal on some land?
The title reminded me of a song from what feels like a hundred years ago:
"Please get me a towel,
Mr. Tangerine Speedo..."
and then I thought about towels which drew my thoughts to SG. Le sigh.
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