We met during the harvest season in a friend’s olive grove. Unaware of how significant and important olives would become in our lives, we set out early in the morning. The village we arrived at was a picturesque Inner Aegean village with about 300 houses, easily visible from the yard of a house situated on a slightly elevated hill.

After taking a break at the village house and having our tea, we set out towards the olive grove where the harvest would take place.

As we began to walk towards the grove, the extraordinary sight of neatly arranged olive trees mesmerized us. It was a slightly windy day, and the breeze gently swayed the leaves of the olive trees. With each sway, the green color of the leaves took on different shades; it was impossible not to be enchanted. The olive fruits visible among the leaves were like black diamonds; so precious, so rare.

The timing of our meeting with olives coinciding with the harvest season contributed greatly to our enchantment. The harvest season felt like a festival, and we were right in the midst of it. The villagers harvesting the olives would first lay out a cloth under each tree, then shake the tree vigorously to make the olives fall. Afterwards, the remaining olives on the branches were combed down onto the cloth using a tool resembling a comb. Once all the olives from a tree had fallen, the olives on the cloth were gathered into crates. Under each harvested olive tree, crates of olives were piled up. I remember watching this sweet commotion as if I were watching an award-winning movie.

That day, my spouse and I harvested olives together from one olive tree. We combed the beautiful branches of the tree as if combing the hair of the most beautiful girl in the world. With a sweet exhaustion and a huge smile on our faces, we returned home with the olives we had gathered. After drying and waiting for the necessary time, we placed them on our table. Those olives were the most delicious olives we had ever eaten.

On the day we were invited to the harvest, we had very much wanted to be among the people who had the chance to accompany this “immortal tree” on its journey in the world. In the future, we were fortunate enough to own an olive grove in the same village. I remember the day we first went to the grove as if it were yesterday. The olive trees were beautifully arranged on the slightly sloping terrain. At the entrance, two large fig trees seemed to guide the way to the olive trees. At the other end of the grove, the majestic pine trees marked the boundary of the land with all their grandeur. The orange-red hues of the rocky soil harmonized wonderfully with the magnificent green tones of the olive tree leaves. On that day, filled with excitement, we couldn’t quite distinguish between dream and reality, and thus began our journey with olives.