Pecans and Hickories

Pecans and hickories are nuts that both represent Ross' love of gardening and eating the fruits of local plants. When in New Orleans, he gleans fallen pecans from a tree and delights in eating them. Pecans are characteristic of the American South and as Ross was in New Orleans for a panel about Black people returning to the South, the act of eating those characteristic nuts becomes symbolic of reconnection with and return to that land. Hickories appear in another context in a different chapter in which Ross is planning the planting of a local community nut grove. While working on this project he learns that the hickory trees won't be in full fruit production for 200-250 years. As such, the planting of this grove represents caretaking for future generations. Those who plant the hickory trees with not be able to reap the rewards of...