Thick Skinned

The latest bag of oranges from Costco came with a surprisw, thick skins. I weigh my food for each meal and like to be accurate, so I peeled one of the oranges and then scraped off as much of the white stuff as possible.

For the record, the white stuff on an orange is called pith. It’s the spongy, fibrous layer between the bright outer peel and the juicy fruit segments. If you want to sound fancy, it also has a scientific name: albedo (Note: Albedo also means ia measure of the percentage of sunlight that a surface reflects away). 

As I was peeling (and scraping), a few random thoughts came to mind:

First thought: Why does an orange need this thick of a skin? Naturally, I turned to my good friend Google for answers. It turns out that navel oranges tend to have thicker skins than other varieties. Younger trees also produce thicker-skinned fruit. Other factors—like exposure to frost, ripeness, and shade—can make the peel thicker too. Even nutrients play a role. High levels of nitrogen and potassium or a lack of phosphorus can result in thick skins.

Thinner-skinned oranges are usually juicier, but thicker ones travel better, peel more easily, and are less messy to hold while eating. So, I suppose there’s a trade-off between toughness and tenderness—even in oranges.

Second thought: I was reminded of a co-worker named Tom who once gave me a small alligator pin to wear on my shirt collar. He told me often how much he appreciated my business skills and hoped that someday I’d develop a thicker skin to go with them. The pin, he said, was to remind me to “toughen up.” So, yes—somehow my mind went from orange peels to alligator skin.

Third thought: Midway through peeling, I had to stop and take a photo. I thought, This could be a blog topic!

And here we are.

Maybe the universe sent me this batch of thick-skinned oranges as a gentle reminder that I’m still working on my own “tough peel.”