Inherited Idiosyncrasies – Peeling Oranges · 20 April 2024
Trying to peal oranges with a continuous peal is a strange idiosyncrasy that I inherited from my dad.
I am not sure that you can actually inherit idiosyncrasies, but it does not really matter. I am going to say that I did. After all, if we had a discussion about it, it would be a silly argument about nature versus nurture, and since I am just writing a blog, I would win the argument anyway. After all, a blog is, by its very nature, just a one way street. I know. People have the opportunity to comment and such, so it can be interactive. At least to a certain extent.
At any rate.
It has been a few years since my dad passed away, but I still think of him and my mom often. Often times I think of my dad when I peal oranges. I know. It is a strange time to think of him, but it will make sense in a moment.
My dad used to like to peal oranges in one spiral peel. I think he started doing it with the Mandarin oranges. You know, the little ones that are practically bite-sized. For some reason, their peels seem to hang off them like baggy pants or something. And for some reason, my dad decided that he was going to peel them in one spiral peel from the top to the bottom. I would say that he saw it on a YouTube video, but those were not a thing back in the day. I know. It seems like videos and the internet have always been around, but that is not the way people learned things back in the day. I am not sure how Dad learned about peeling his oranges, but I know it was not through the internet.
At any rate.
The interesting thing is that it was pretty easy to do the spiral peel thing with the little Mandarin oranges. But to do so on a navel orange or any other type of orange was something altogether different. Their peels did not hang off of them like baggy pants. They were held tight on those oranges. So the spiral peel thing was not a thing with them. At least not a sure thing. Still, my dad often tried it on them. At least I think he did.
What I know for sure though is that I tried to copy my dad. On many things, but especially, on peeling oranges in that spiral fashion. Which is why I am not going to debate whether I inherited the idiosyncrasy or not. Yes, I know that I watched him peel those Mandarins and other oranges. Yes, I learned that behavior. But I am sure I inherited the notion that I could do it whether my dad could or not. Which is to say that regardless of the type of orange, I try to peel it in one long spiral piece from top to bottom.
I must say that I am proud of myself when I accomplish the spiral peel on a regular orange. I know. It is not that great of an accomplishment. Still, I get pleasure out of doing it. Partly because it is a fun thing. And partly because even being proud of myself when doing something silly is one of those idiosyncrasies that I inherited from my dad.
Well, I did not really talk much about inheriting idiosyncrasies, but that is okay. I really just wanted to remember my dad for one of the strange things he taught me. One of those idiosyncratic things that I inherited from him.
By the way, if you decide that you want to spiral peel oranges from now on, you can say that you inherited the idiosyncrasy from me. And you can say so whether we are related or not.
© 2024 Michael T. Miyoshi
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