navel lore

did you know the navel orange originated as a mutation of a sweet orange?

in 1820, in brazil, at a monastery, in an orange grove, on a sweet orange tree, an orange produced a tiny second orange inside itself. this “mutation” resulted in a seedless orange …

as history goes, we can assume the monks liked this seedless orange and grafted cuttings onto other citrus trees (the only way to reproduce the mutation as there are no seeds) as today there are navel oranges galore.

and…because cutting and grafting in the only method of reproduction, the navel orange of today carries the same genetic makeup as the original mutated orange. so, in a sense, the navel orange i peeled today is a clone of that one orange picked from that sweet orange tree at the monastary in brazil in 1820.

kinda cool.

orange peeler at vendome metro

this orange peel installation is courtesy of a navel orange produced in uruguay.

to be precise, the installation is at the vacant lot across from the vendome metro station, but the orange was eaten while i was sitting on the bench in front of the station.

jack peels orange

today my friend jack accompanied me. i took photos while jack peeled his orange.

this is an organic orange, close to tangerine size. thin skinned, tangy and juicy.

reflections on “eating oranges in public”

i do agree. it seems banal, simple. but for me it is not so easy. when i am alone i feel a slight unease in assuming a place, in taking up a place. it is subtle, but i feel it. i have a certain anxiety about occupying public space when there is no sanctioned reason behind it. and in this “performance” i eat an orange in public for the sake of eating an orange in public. i am not watching my kids in the park, i am not on a break from work, i have no real reason to be where i am doing what i am doing.

and then there is the intimacy of eating in public. the orange is moist, juicy and somehow slightly sensual, the peeling of the skin, the sectioning of the orange, this leisure in taking time to nourish oneself. all this further complicated by my deliberate placing of the peel and taking of the photograph. and then i walk away. leaving the peel behind as “evidence” that refuses to be put in its allotted space.

eating oranges in public

Eric Bolduc at 4:43pm June 25

are you out of your mind ?!

Dominique Richard at 4:46pm June 25

and liking his fingers…mmmmmm

Michelle Bush at 4:52pm June 25

i can smell them

Dream Listener at 5:13pm June 25

lol…its a dangerous job i know…but somebody’s gotta do it!

orange peeler at westmount post office

orange dream

j’ai rêvé que les oranges sur le plancher s’étaient mises à rouler lentement, comme si le plancher était légèrement en pente.

i dreamt the oranges on the floor slowly rolled, as if the floor was slightly slanted.

orange peeler at elpro

orange peel hung on barbed-wire fence surrounding the elpro building. st-henri, montreal.

orange peeler at marianopolis college

a beautiful day to sit under a tree and eat an orange.

orange peeler at terry fox park

eating oranges after dark