Last week my brother sent me this photo of a tree stump that left me with mixed feelings.

This was part of a mango tree that had stood on the property long before any of us had set foot on it.

Once part of an orchard, this land was converted to a housing colony and the mango tree was one of the many lucky ones that weren’t felled down.

For years it dominated the back garden so that its shade prevented any flowering plants from blossoming. While our neighbours had lovely flowering shrubs, scented roses and the like, we had to do with some variegated foliage and any other plant life that didn’t need much sunshine.

However, every other summer it redeemed its position in the garden when the family guzzled down gallons of the sweetest ‘aamras ‘ that was a deep orange and silky smooth. This one tree would yield around 700 fruit of an indigenous variety of mango that was truly divine.

But a few years ago it actually began to rot and was perilously close to falling. Which is why this year, it was cut down.

Luckily this tree has been replaced a few years ago by a true blue Alphonso planted by my father. But as my brother told me, it will be a while before we can sing “Underneath the mango tree”. 

Linking up with Parul’s #ThursdayTreeLove-67 

Ciao