LEAVING THE SQUIRRELS BEHIND

    In Miami we're experiencing Mango Madness. It's when our favorite fruit begins to fall like huge, delicious drops of rain. In just a few days we go from longing to loathing the task of,"What do I do with the excess?".
    
    We're sending each other pictures to prove our bounty.  I saw one on Facebook yesterday, a young woman caressing the sea of mangos she had just collected.
      Just a week ago I was still eating "squirrels", the first ones that fall because they've been gnawed by furry rodents (I cut out the bad and eat the good).
      The squirrel mangos get left on the ground now like so many rotten apples.  There's too many perfect ones to pick.  
      We've filled our freezer and the dehydrator whirs on, turning juicy slices into dry slivers to enjoy in the fall.
       We can't give the extras to friends.  They have too many. We'll soon be leaving them on the steps of strangers and filling "Free" roadside boxes.

     Three years ago a lost tour bus came barreling down our narrow street.  The driver screeched to a halt and I heard his loud announcement, "Look, someone is giving away mangos.  Does anyone-" but by then I was bounding up the steps with my box, passing them out to people who had never seen a fresh mango.
     It's a wonderful time of the year.  Enjoy your own version of mango madness.

PS:  Don't judge a book by its cover.  I saw this "perfect mango" 

smiling up at me from a West Grove sidewalk yesterday.  

It turned out to be a squirrel.