Author's note:

In my home country, in prewar Czechoslovakia, oranges were exotic and expensive. They had to be imported and were associated with sunshine and eternal greenery. I used to dream of being able to eat one orange every single day. Little did I imagine that one day I would have my own orange tree in my garden in Hollywood, in sunny Southern California. Today, the tree may be one hundred years old and it still bears fruit. To me, the flowers are like tiny white stars, a symbol of a sky full of stars, which represents eternal life. Oranges resemble the sun, the source of all life. In addition, oranges originally come from China, a country I visited seven years ago. The German word for orange is Apfelsine which literally stands for Chinese apple. As a child, I was always fascinated by the nocturnal sky and the mystery of birth and death of faraway suns and stars. For me, stars became symbols of the magical, unending universe, and symbols of life and death. The sun is orange-colored and the white stars of the night are like orange blossoms. For me, the orange tree is the symbol of the survivor, because it never seems to die. The key is life -- and love. >>>