The 20-Year-Old Coconut Tree: Harvesting the Last Fruit

Sometimes, things that give us a lot of memories are so hard to let go that even if letting go is the only option, you will still get stubborn because of the sentimental value of that "thing." Why have to let go and not just keep it? It's not just for some random reason, but I think our reason are valid.

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Mommy F finally agreed to cut down the coconut tree beside my Mama's house. To be honest, this coconut tree, according to Mom, is a dwarf coconut tree. But then, it grows longer when it is suppose to be a dwarf. I'm not sure the explanation for this, but the point is that it grows longer and becomes a problem for my mama. Mommy F was so against into cutting it before, but then, maybe she realized the danger that it can bring to us that's why she finally agreed to cutting it down.

I know that having a tree in the surrounding area is really a big help, but when a typhoon lands, we can't help but feel anxious, thinking that those trees will fall down to our home, and that'll be devastating for sure, if ever it happens, especially since we are not that well off to fix the house, if ever. So we have to decide and prioritize the most important things. Though we are really sad that it will finally be cut down, we have no choice but to do it. It's hard, but we have to.

You see, this coconut tree, according to what I heard, is already more than twenty years old. It was planted by Mommy F's former partner, my Mommy Merly. And, we really have good memories with that tree, the time we spent whenever we were harvesting some of it, enjoying the fruits and their juices. Sometimes we also get a coconut in there to make coconut milk, and we are the ones that process it. The memories are really fun and exciting. I even help grate the coconut, sometimes doing it manually.

But now it's time to say bye bye.

Mom look for people who professionally cut trees just like this. We need a professional one because there are houses in the surrounding area. If this tree is just carelessly cut without minding the surrounding area, the result will be a disaster for sure, and we don't want that. The decision was all made by my mommy F.

Anyway, going back to the cutting down of the coconut tree, they started with getting all the fruits. One person got to the top to get all of them, and they finished it faster than I thought. I am actually excited about this part because I thought we could get a lot of young coconuts. We plan to make buko salad, but sadly, we only get a few of them.

Most of them are mature coconuts, which can produce coconut milk, but this is not what we need. But well, we can just stock them here for future use if we ever need coconut milk. I suddenly crave Bilo-Bilo with lots of banana and sweet potato! There's a lot of use for all of these.

And speaking of foods, we also get the heart of the palm (coconut) tree, which is really good for making a fresh lumpia with lots of vegetables. It is sweet and really delicious, I tried eating some a while ago from the freshly cut heart of a palm tree. Mommy F suggested that we make spring rolls with meat and this, and we actually did.

I cut them like that, sauteed them for a minute with the other ingredients, and then wrapped them in a wrapper. It is really delicious, and I ate a lot of it. It's cool that the coconut tree has a lot of uses for humans.

After taking down all the coconut, they cut down the leaf. There are a lot of them, but it is actually a good thing because this too has a lot of good use, especially if you plan on building a house. There's a lot more of this on the other side of our house. They set them aside and put them in a good place to protect their leaves. After putting them all down, they finally cut down the tree.

I saw Mommy F wiping her tears while watching it being cut down. I understand her, of course, but it has to be done. She told us that she asked forgiveness of my mommy, Merly (her former partner), who planted this coconut and cut it down.

After cutting it all down, we made sure that all the fruits and even the leaf would be put to good use, which would benefit us.

Take, for example, the coconut leaves. The old couple that were living on my mom's land for months was finally given permission to build their home. Of course, it is free. She took a liking to the old couple because they kept the land clean. I am not sure where they plan to get the other necessary materials for building their house, but I think they already have a plan.

As for the roof and maybe the wall, they will use this too in building their house. I remember that my mama's old house was also made with this. I also remember the time when I helped weave it. I was just a kid back then, but I still remember it, though I am not sure about the process of making it now.

These are all the finished product, it was made alone by an 80 year old man. For an 80 year old man, he really moved fast on making this. While her wife was busy selling vegetables, he, on the other hand, was busy making this. What a cool couple, seriously. That's why Mom likes them.