Green Almonds, reprise

The following conversation with my father-in-law occurred almost a decade ago, but whenever I see green almonds in the market, they remind me of him, and I buy a few -- though I probably like looking at them more than eating them. This year, I drew and painted some.

--

Green Almonds

"Such grapes we had from my uncle's vineyards in Bludan!" he exclaimed.

"What else?" I asked.

"Figs, apples..."

"Are you hungry now?"

"Not hungry, but I feel like I want to eat."

"You mean, just have something to chew on?"

"Yes," he smiled, as if he was relieved someone understood, but when the three of us suggested several things, he just shook his head no, smiling rather sadly.

"He's been asking for nuts today but he refuses what I offer," the caregiver said. She was a young woman of twenty-two or so, pretty, with dark hair and eyes, wearing large star-shaped earrings.

"What kind of nuts have you been thinking about?" I asked him.

"Green almonds."

"Ah! I've seen them but never eaten any. How do you do it?"

He explained how you crack and remove the outer covering, to reveal another shell that has to be removed in turn. "Sounds like a lot of work," I said.

"Yes, but that's the point. You sit and do it all day... We got those in Bludan too, there were lots of different kinds of nuts in my uncle's orchard."

"I'll look this week and see if I can find you any, sometimes they have them at the market."

He seemed to sleep again after this burst of conversation, and then opened his eyes. "Tell me," he said, lowering his voice just slightly and giving a small nod toward the caregiver who sat at the desk a mere six feet away. "Do you think this is a Bludani girl?"

--

Green almonds in a chased copper and silver Damascene bowl from the family home in Syria.

We did bring him some almonds a few weeks after this conversation, for his 99th birthday. He was quite frail at that point, but his eyes lit up when he saw the fuzzy green nuts in my hands. "What do I do now?" I asked. He told me where to find a hammer, and I went out on his balcony and hit one of the almonds along its seam, as he had explained. Because they are green and relatively soft, I found out that you have to give them a decisive whack it the right place, and then the nut will open to reveal an inner, thin brown covering, with the nearly-white almond inside. (More recently, I've discovered that a regular nutcracker does a much cleaner job, but it isn't nearly as satisfying as the hammer.) My father-in-law looked delighted, and he worked over the cracked shells to extract the nuts with his slow fingers, put them one by one in his mouth, and happily ate them.

He died a month later, nine years ago today -- July 25, 2008.

Since January, I've been working on a manuscript adapted and expanded from those posts, under the title The Fig and the Orchid, to finally make it into a book. I'm thinking of illustrating it with drawings like the ones here. My father-in-law was a Syrian immigrant to America in the late 1940s: he was a teacher, scholar of Arabic culture and language, a Unitarian minister, writer, thinker -- and a larger-than-life character. Considering world events, it seems like a good time for such a project. I know that some of you here have been along for this ride a long time, and read those posts about him long ago, for others this is a new subject. Would you be interested in such a book? What would make it the most compelling for you?

Comments

[Rachel]

I look so forward to this book. I would love a combination of your words and your drawings.

[Faith]

Absolutely write the book! I love your drawings and hearing your memories...

[Marly Youmans]

Yes, write it and use the drawings and paintings. (And I still like the Icelandic project! After that?)

Side thought: I expect a Unitarian minister from the 40's and 50's was probably something rather different from what it is today... portraying that might be suggestive about societal / cultural / church transformations.

To me, what makes such things compelling is not the exotic nature of things and recollections, though those may have their own charm and beauty. Nor would it be compelling because of links to world events--hammering (to use the tool at hand) that home would only work against some of your purposes. At any rate, you would not need to mention the pressure of world events in order to convey everything about them that you needed to convey. The mere existence of a fascinating, truthful, good person--a Syrian immigrant--would convey everything you might want to convey.

For me, it is the character of the person drawn that is compelling, and you have in him some rich materials. "Larger than life" is always a help, as is a character with wide-ranging pursuits.

[Paul Digby]

I would find such a book a delight. Some drawings, paintings, stories such as the one you wrote here and poems - and perhaps a little history also. Something that the readers could grasp historically that would help to place your father in the world that we all experience also.
Your touch is light but deep, Beth. I think that such little book would be sheer delight.

[Ann Elbourne]

Absolutely I would love and buy this book.
Ann

[Natalie]

I would love that book, Beth. Your posts about your father-in-law were all marvellous, it would be great to have them collected in print and even better with your illustrations. Maybe a few photos of him as well?

[Leslee]

Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea, Beth! Maybe it's because I remember and loved some of your stories way back when. And with your lovely illustrations, it sounds perfect.

[Martine]

Oui! C'est un beau projet qui mérite de voir le jour. Je le lirais avec grand plaisir :)

[Jennifer Lewis]

Yes Beth --Do write a book. Your perspective & insights would be a lovely addition to his larger than life persona. And your caring voice, a wonderful insider/outsider observers way of seeing.
In other words please write it!! Xxoo

[Sheena]

Yes Beth, please write/draw it. Not only would it be a book of love, which we desperately need at this time of increased prejudice and violence, but it would remind us that the histories of migration that have made us "who we are" are much longer and more diverse than the ones that we have been told by those in positions of power.

[Duchesse]

Oh yes, please- and with drawings, and maybe photos too. This will be most welcome reading.

One could work out a lot with a bag of those nuts and a hammer!

[Laura]

Please make the book. Your stories of him and the family were always so vivid, poignant and moving. They reside inside me even after all this time. It's a book we need in the US and the world. Thank you for the loveliness.

[parmanu]

This is wonderful news -- I so look forward to the book! And I agree with Marly: it will be his character that will be most compelling.