[Garden Memories: XXVII]
Mulberries are humble fruits. They don’t have the divine tenderness of a raspberry or the exotic sweetness of a mango or pineapple. They fall short of the burst of flavor in a blackberry or the succulent flesh of a strawberry. They’re C students in the fruit class.
Because they don’t overwhelm in flavor and sweetness and because they are so common, they can be eaten by the fistful without getting sick (or feeling guilty). Their versatility makes them delicious: they work with cereal, on salads, and in deserts. At any time of day, they can be incorporated into a meal.
But very few people know of them. Even fewer love them.
Perhaps, in a way, it’s because we rarely think of (fruit) humility as a high virtue. I mean, we appreciate it exhibited in the people we encounter, work with, and consider part of our community, but how many of our heroes are humble? Courageous, sure. Bold, of course. Principled and zealous, always.
In a specialized world, the same seems true about the gift of versatility. But with as quickly as the world is changing, it seems adaptability versatility are increasingly difficult and coveted.
Maybe we have some things to learn from Mulberries.
