12 • March 2016 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. Seasons of Change


Kenwood, CA. ~ Lemon sat in a box, the bumps on his peel felt charged with apprehen- sion. What was he doing here? Why were all the other lemons sitting so quietly, not moving, the brilliant yellow of their skins dissolving into a pale color. “What’s going on here. Where are we?” he called out into the stuffy air surrounding him. An old lemon, shriveled and covered with brown spots, smushed, “Hush up. You’re wasting all your en- ergy. You’re headed for the jelly belly factory. You don’t want to end up a reject do you?” Jelly Belly? Candy? He wasn’t candy. He was fruit. He had been happily swinging on his stem. Lemon Tree was sing- ing a lovely swishing song with


Wind. And Sun had come out from his cloudy mood and was shining brightly on his fruitful shape making him glow with lovely canary hues when sud- denly everything turned dark. “Tree, tree,” he had called out, “what’s happen- ing to me!” But Lemon Tree only sighed mournfully and started mum- bling incompre- hensible words such as Cycle of Life, Ripening, Impermanence, and Seasons of


Change. Why hadn’t Tree ever said anything before, given some warning, taught him real things instead of wasting time with his useless leaf dappling and color changes. Yesterday he had felt a dizzying free-fall followed by a terrible thump. He was stuck immobile on this


By Jean Wong ~ lijeanwong.blogspot.com


horrible brown muddiness, his bottom squished and flattened. Ten there was a rush of abrupt shouts and hands grabbing him, stuffing him along with other lemons in a rough crate. He heard an enormous roar and the sickly smell of gas. Tat was about all he could remem- ber. Now he turned to the old geezer and cried, “Why do you say I’m headed for the factory! What about you?” He eyed the old lemon wedged in the corner of the box. “Where are you go- ing?”


Te aging fruit emitted a


grated moan, “Somehow I got stuck on a nail and when they shook everyone out, I stayed behind. I’m afraid I’m not go- ing anywhere. If you’d heard all some of the stories I’ve been told, you’d wished you had been born a weed.


Just be thank-


ful, it will be over fast.” “Fast! What’s over fast! What’s go- ing to happen to me!” Lemon


started to feel his skin wrinkle as it turned dry and puckered. “Sonny, roll back and chill.” Te Old Lemon was a real sour puss. He smirked, glad to see someone else in distress. “Once they slice you up, you won’t feel a thing. You’ll be all pulp and seeds. Of course it’s your juice they really want. Tat’s where the flavor is though I hear some of those other fruits get pretty nasty saying us lemons should be used for furniture wax. Te strawberries and cherries are the worst—they’re all like elitist because they got sugar.” “Slice, pulp,” Lemon felt his ears flat- ten like fruit leather. His mind swirled in dizzying flashes of straw, maize, saffron. He tried to calm himself. Lemon Tree used to call him mellow yellow, but he couldn’t seem to regain the golden aura that usually en- circled his head. He began roll- ing about, bumping over other lemons who raised fibrous brows in annoyance. Haphaz- ardly, he moved from one end of the box to the other. A great explosion rocketed


him through the air as he heard the driver curse, and the truck made a somersault.


“I’m done


for,” Lemon gasped wishing he was a bird with great wings to catch the dizzying currents that swept through him. Leaves brushed by him at breakneck speed


and then...total still-


ness. Where was he? Tittering sounds hit his ear: “Oh…Ah.” More giggling. “What is it?” “Look at that golden color.” Lemon blinked his eyes and saw he was lodged in the crook of a tree. And there before him, surrounding him from top to bottom were the largest lemons he’d ever seen. How strange. Except they were orange! He turned to a neighboring


RCU Rated Highly In Consumer Reports Financial


Institution Survey


Santa Rosa, CA. ~ Redwood Credit Union (RCU) was re- cently rated one of the top fi- nancial institutions in the na- tion by Consumer Reports, a nonprofit organization that serves consumers through un- biased ratings, research, prod- uct testing, and education. Out of over 13,000 banks and


credit unions in the United States, the report highlighted approximately 100 financial in- stitutions based on top ratings, and RCU was among them. Ac- cording to the survey of Con- sumer Reports subscribers, RCU received high satisfaction scores for customer service, communication, consumer complaints, and fees, with a score of 92 out of a possible 100. On average, the 45 credit unions included in the report received higher marks for cus- tomer satisfaction overall than their large bank counterparts. “We’re


honored


to be ranked


among the top finan- cial insti- tutions nation-


wide in the Con- sumer Re- ports survey,” says RCU Presi- dent and CEO, Brett Martinez. “We hope this credible report encourages more people to consider credit unions for their personal and business banking needs.” Of approximately 6,300 cred-


fruit and stammered. “I didn’t know lemons can be orange.” “Lemons!” she answered. “We’re not lemons. We’re or- anges!” “Oranges!” Lemon thought back to all the lessons Lemon Tree had taught him.


12 • March 2016 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


it unions in the US, RCU is ranked 63rd largest in asset size, and is 11th largest in the state of California. Te full Consum- er Reports survey, along with the educational article “Choose the Best Bank for You,” can be found in the January 2016 issue of Consumer Reports and on- ... continued on page 16 line at ConsumerReports.org.


“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” ~ Socrates


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