Planting an olive tree

Olives have appeared on our balcony – surprising given that the olive tree is quite new. Olives are not supposed to produce fruit this quickly. Olives symbolise peace for the very reason that they take such a long time to grow and bear fruit. No-one planted them unless they expected a long period of peace, so new olive trees were a reliable indicator of widespread expectations about a lengthy era of stability, tranquility and lack of turmoil.

This is not why we have planted an olive tree but it makes a strange sort of sense. Perhaps by planting an olive tree we have actually engendered a peaceful period in our lives.