There has been an ongoing mango feud between my in-laws and their neighbors with the mango tree.

To set the scene: the tree is on the neighbor’s property, but some of the branches are long enough that they happen to stretch long over the fence that separates the two homes, and this is where the feud begins. When the mangoes fall, the neighbors are right there, hands outstretched, asking for their precious mangoes back. And it’s so silly, the whole thing about the mangoes. Who eats that many mangoes that you can’t let go of just a few?

So this Summer, we keep our eyes out for the mangoes. I don’t know the inner mechanisms of growing mangoes, so every day since I noticed the first sprout, I would go and check on our mangoes. I did this for about a month. From my room, early in the mornings as the sun shone its first rays, I could see the green mango bunches starting to yellow and ripen. Every morning, I was excited to see how much they had grown! It wasn’t long until they started to fall, and I would be eager to snatch a mango or two, only to find a squirrel or some sort of critter had beaten me to the punch. Seeing the thrown seeds, however, made my heart glow; just thinking about some happy little animals enjoying the sweet fuzz of a mango.

One particular afternoon I spent skinny dipping in our pool, I noticed a ladder up on the mango tree! To think that I panicked because I was naked would be wise, but it would be wrong. I was worried about them taking my proverbial mangoes. So I made my way out of the water, double checked for anyone watching from the ladder (luckily it was just me), and I proceeded to the mangoes. To my pleasant surprise, there was still plenty of mangoes hanging from their roots, just waiting to be picked. I focused my attention on one ripe yellow mango, the one I sworn I had been watching from my bedroom window.

I reached and reached, I stood on the stump on the ground beneath me, but it was just a few inches out of reach. So I asked God if he would lower it for me.

And He did.

As I picked the fruit, I noticed a bunch behind it in the distance,

The mango shook the leaves around it as I plucked it from its root, and there it was like a treasure in my hand. Walking back to the pool deck, I start feeling a horrible itching all over my body! Naturally, I jumped back in the water to see all of these ants disperse into the water around me, and there I was in the pool, right back where I started.

I considered a few things afterwards as I soaked up the sun:

1. If another person wants to shake ants all over their body for a taste of a mango, let them.
2. If they want to be greedy with their mangoes, let them.
3. You ask with love and good intentions, and you will receive. Just be careful what you ask for.
4. And if you see mangoes growing, it’s probably hot enough to go swimming.