How long does an olive tree live then?
NASSOS DAPHNIS: Well, there’s an olive tree in Jerusalem that they say Christ used to preach under. So it must be more than a long time. And also there’s an olive tree in Athens that they have all surrounded so that nothing happens to it that Plato used to go to and have a class. So they call it the Plato olive tree. PAUL CUMMINGS: It’s an old olive tree. NASSOS DAPHNIS: Yes. So that shows you how long an olive tree can live. PAUL CUMMINGS: That’s fascinating. After the War you came back to New York, right? NASSOS DAPHNIS: Yes. PAUL CUMMINGS: And what did you do? Because for a couple of years in 1949 you went to Europe on the GI Bill. Did you do something before that? NASSOS DAPHNIS: Well, from 1945 to 1949 I was painting. And I think those were the years when I used to have a job on weekends working as a waiter. Or was it that time? Either I was doing that or I used to have a job decorating a window for a florist in the morning from eight to eleven or something like that, just decorat
