sweet clementine, bah bah bahh.

For us Canadians, November is a pretty slow month. Save for Remembrance Day on the 11th, there are few holidays and since we celebrate the real thanksgiving in October (please, no hate mail) we look straight forward to Christmas. I am a huge fan of this situation because there is really nothing that can get in the way of my pre-Christmas celebrations. But, in addition to November marking the beginning of the wondrous "red-cup season" at Starbucks, November to me also means clementines.

I will forever associate the beginning of the Christmas season with the first crate of clementines that lands on our kitchen counter (only to be replaced by the second within a few days). I'm not much of an orange person throughout the rest of the year, but when the sweet little clementines make their first appearance at the Loblaws or Metro I become a fiend for oranges. My fingers always have a hint of orange zest on them and I build up a great immunity to the common cold. I swear, the amount of vitamin C I ingest throughout the holiday season benefits me long into the spring and through the summer and fall until November rolls around again. They are truly a miracle.

Clementines are also a very comforting snack. Call me crazy, but I cannot be the only person who has received a box of clementines in the mail while in residence at university. I remember when I was in first year and I received a magical comfort package from my mom containing a large crate of clementines. It was such a wonderful surprise, especially when you are away from home for the first extended period in your life and you happen to be living in a festering pool of germs and mono. I fit as many clementines as I could into a basket that sat on what limited counter space I had and then decided to share the remainder with my floormates. When I offered them the little gems of hope and comfort amidst the piles of essays, lab reports and mid-term study notes that were scattered on all of their desks, I cannot say that any one person turned down my offer, and no one accepted without a smile.

Clementines, in a way, also symbolise a sense of unity - at least throughout my university campus. I noticed that through the past week, as I'd begin to peel a clementine in a lengthy art history lecture or one of my various english classes that slowly, but surely, several people would begin to peel clementines of their own. Soon, the lecture hall would be filled with an aroma of citrus-y goodness. The idea that other people may feel the same joy and comfort that a crate of clementines brings at the dawn of the holiday season truly makes me smile.

peace. love. smile.