Green Pear nostalgia.

In the backyard of this house we are renting for our stay in Christchurch I have discovered a pear tree laden with not-yet-ripe pears. The birds are eating them! I LOVE green hard pears! I have already gone out and picked one or two when I have felt like a snack. As I have sat here munching one the taste brought back memories. When I was about 8 years old we lived in a house in Chambers Street, North East Valley, Dunedin. It had quite a big backyard and in the corner there was a henhouse. Dad bought some hens and being the animal lover of the family, (I had a pet budgie) I was assigned the task of feeding them. So every morning I would boil up the vegetable peelings of the night before, mix them with mash and whatever the weather, take them down the garden path to the hens. On the way to the hen house was a big pear tree and I would watch the the pears grow. Inevitably I would grab one and eat it while I watched the hens eating. (I could not take it back to the house, my mother would have growled at me.) Every morning the hens and I would eat together. They had their warm mash/vege peel "porridge", while I had my pear. They would get the core.  They never did lay very well, and some local rodent slowly killed them off until I ended up with only one pet one living on the back lawn. I, however, grew to love hard unripe pears. I hate the soft juicy ones you buy in the shop. They are way too ripe and to me have no real taste. So one of my holiday treats is going to be these lovely hard green pears. Now as an adult I have productive hens and a not very productive pear tree by the hen house. The possums eat most of the few pears that are produced. It is funny how much influence childhood experiences still have on you.