A Guava Tree With Fruits Still Waiting

At the coordinates George marked that Sunday in March, there is a guava tree whose fruits have yet to ripen. The green clusters hang among the foliage beneath a sky without a single cloud, while a few yellow and brown leaves on the branches betray the weight of the dry heat. No one was visiting at that moment — no bird, no mammal — but the tree stood there, still and heavy with promise. The record wasn't made out of urgency or surprise discovery. George noted it as a reference point: a food source that the sanctuary's wildlife will be able to find once those fruits make their passage from green to pale yellow and the sweet scent begins to call. The guayabo (Psidium guajava) is one of those trees that works in silence, building its sugars slowly, until one day it becomes the center of everything. The point has been marked on the map. When the fruits ripen, we will know where to look.