The Illusive “Bobber Fruit”

My husband and I took a weekend get-away to Beaver’s Bend State Park in Oklahoma.  While there we had a picnic lunch near a common fishing spot.  As I looked up at the beautiful scenery around me, I saw 3 dark pink, round “fruits” handing from a limb on a tree.  I wondered what kind of fruit they were.  Kumquat?  Apricot?  My husband, who seems to know nearly everything about the outdoors, was certain he knew the answer.  With a matter-of-fact voice he declared confidently that it is the “illusive bobber fruit.”  

I got up from my seat and was certain he had to be wrong.  I have done some fishing in my life, and those fishing bobbers were red and white, not a uniform bright pink color.  Yet with a closer look, the fishing line was clearly dangling from them.  They were, in fact, fishing bobbers. 

My husband went on to explain in greater detail about the “bobber fruits.”  They have a tough outer shell, and there’s usually nothing in them.  I could infer that they are not good eating, and the effort to retrieve them would not be worth it.  I laughed about that for the rest of our trip.  

Sometimes its good to be silly and laugh at your misinterpretation of things, such as fishing bobbers as “fruits.”  I thought I discovered some native fruit tree I had not previously seen.  Nope.  Just the illusive “bobber fruit.”