While walking to the junior high school where I worked in Japan, I passed this house which had this colorful display of persimmons, or kaki, strung out to dry from the 2nd-floor balcony. I remember that autumn quite vividly; the persimmon trees were in full bloom and I was given at least 50 by my landlady, acquaintances, and even random strangers, as a gesture of goodwill and so they could clear out their stockpiles. They have this lovely subtle sweetness when dried, and a friend even makes salsa out of them. (Nov. 2005)