Ripe – In Pics and Words

Trick-or-Treat … give me something fun to eat. The pomegranate is an ancient fruit packed with antioxidant nutrition, but in a pinch it also works as a Halloween treat. Well, not if you’re a little kid hoping to get a bag full of king size candy bars, but it always reminds me of one Halloween many years ago.

My brothers and sister were out trick-or-treating while I stayed home to pass out treats. That is, I held the bowl of candy while the neighborhood ghouls and goblins picked their favorite treat. Most of the kids were well-mannered enough to take just one treat, but about midway through the evening a couple of older kids knocked on the door, grabbed the bowl out of my hands and ran down the street.

The night was young and we had no more candy to pass out, but I had an idea. We grew tangerines, grapefruit and pomegranates — which I actually liked more than candy — so I figured they would be popular with the other kids … right?!

So I started handing out red, ripe pomegranates and juicy citrus. As the kids walked away, I could hear conversations like this:

“What did you get?”
“I’m not sure. It feels like a rock.”

Good grief, Charlie Brown! Word spread through the neighborhood to stay away from our house because we were handing out rocks!

My parents asked me if I learned anything from the experience. I said, “Yes, next year I’m going trick-or-treating with my brothers and sister.”

Next year I went out, but there was another kid dressed like me so I didn’t get any treats. At every house I was told, “You’ve already been here.”

Fun Fact: It is said that every pomegranate has exactly 613 seeds.

I was invited to film Tap Fever Studio’s annual Thriller dance performance in front of Crystal Pier, but decided at the last minute not to attend because of COVID. The traditional zombie walk through the business district ends with a sunset performance at the beach. It’s quite a crowd pleaser, but maybe too crowded in these scary times.

The video presented here was filmed at last year’s Pacific Beach Fest.