OhMyKim: Fishing, Family & Life in Korea

Yesterday, while I was out fishing, I came across something I usually try very hard not to step on. 😂
A ginkgo tree.

But this time, the ginkgo fruits were still hanging on the tree, and I finally got to see them up close.
And suddenly, I understood something.
Ginkgo fruits are actually beautiful. 😆

I’ve always known ginkgo trees for one thing:

THE SMELL. 🤣

When those fruits fall onto the ground, they become a completely different experience.

Step on one accidentally?
Congratulations. Your shoes now have a personality.

Let them get into your car?

Good luck. 😂

That smell can stay with you long enough to make you question every decision you’ve made that day.

And yet, standing underneath this tree yesterday, I couldn’t help thinking…

Before they become the smelly things we complain about, they were actually this beautiful.

Look at them!

Clusters of little round fruits hanging among the green leaves, catching the sunlight. I could reach up and touch bunch after bunch.

I’ve heard so many good things about ginkgo trees and their seeds. The seeds are used as food in some Asian cuisines when properly prepared, and ginkgo leaves have also been used traditionally and in herbal preparations.

So perhaps the ginkgo tree has been misunderstood by people like me. 😆

We meet them at their worst.

We step on their fallen fruits.

We complain about the smell.

We get that smell stuck on our shoes.

Then we carry it into the car.

And we remember the ginkgo tree as that smelly tree. 😂

But yesterday, I got to see another part of its story.

There was a time when these “smelly fruits” were beautiful.

And somehow, that made me think about life in general.

Sometimes we only notice things when they’re at their most annoying, messy, unpleasant, or inconvenient.

But maybe everything has a season when it is beautiful too.

Even the things we complain about.

Even the things we don’t understand.

Even the things that make us say, “Ewwww! What IS that smell?!” 🤣

So yesterday, while I was supposed to be looking for bass, I found myself looking at a ginkgo tree instead.

And I think I’ll never look at those annoying little fruits quite the same way again.

There is always something good hiding somewhere – even in the things we don’t particularly like. 🌿💛

And yes…

I’ll still complain when I step on one. 😂

Beautiful or not, I’m NOT bringing that smell into my car again. 🤣

Nature has a funny way of teaching us things.
Sometimes you go fishing looking for bass…
and come home with a lesson from a ginkgo tree. 🎣🌿