[Cajundaddy]

I grew up in Riverside and life still revolved around citrus in the 1960s. The smell of smudge pots on cold winter mornings and a dark haze hanging in the sky, fresh tangerines in my Christmas stocking. Harvest season was long from Nov-May with peak harvest for the best Washington Navel oranges late February. Rail cars loaded with orange crates would get huge blocks of ice slid in under the fruit from the Riverside Ice Plant for the long trip back east. April meant the scent of orange blossoms in the air, especially in the evening up in the canyons.

Our house had a tangerine tree, two Washington Navel orange, and kumquat.

Good times.