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| Mrs. Frances Tomlin picking lemons to share with a friend. |
On the corner of our street stand three lemon trees, all bearing more fruit than their owner Mrs. Frances Tomlin and her family can possibly use.
Over the years Mrs. Tomlin has been sharing her lemons with family, friends, neighbors, and church members, and this year is no different.
"Tell them it's from the neighborhood," she says as a grateful neighbor carries away bags of West Augustine grown, organic, deliciously smelling lemons to give to the teachers at the Webster School and at Murray Middle School just around the corner.
These three lemon trees appeared next to her door years ago, and Mrs. Tomlin's late husband planted them in their backyard, where the trees were left to themselves.
The first year the trees provided a harvest, the Tomlins woke up to empty trees one morning, wondering what happened, but it did not stop them from wanting to share.
One year Mrs. Tomlin loaded up a wheelbarrow full of lemons, chained it to her fence, and left a Free Lemons sign on it.
As I drop off bags of lemons to neighbors from Mrs. Tomlin, and bring back persimmons from Ms. Alicia Bell around the corner, so Mrs. Tomlin can make persimmon cookies, and as I share the lemons along our morning walk, it makes me think about how the lemons connect us to the past, a time where people stopped by to check on their neighbors in a different way.
Mrs. Tomlin's lemons are more than just lemons, her lemon trees are gifts that keep on giving. Each time they come with a story, a story my children can learn from, a story about how things used to be in the neighborhood, and a story that makes me feel even greater connected to our West Augustine village.
So whether it's persimmons, lemons, Christmas cookies, or just a simple "Hello, how are you doing?" think about, who you can reach out to in your neighborhood.
West Augustine is changing, St. Augustine is changing, and St. Johns County has more than doubled its size in the last twenty years. It is so easy to get lost in the change, in the busy world of Zoom meetings, social media, and our constant screen time. Sometimes it just takes a few lemons to connect people, but if you don't have any lemon trees, just ask your neighbors a question, make some extra cookies to share, check to see if they need any help, or participate in a community event. Have a conversation, get to know your neighbors - new and old - and you will soon feel a greater connection to the community in which you live.
*This piece was originally posted on the West Augustine News Connection on November 19, 2021.
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