‘Jenny’ & Hal Appleseed

Yesterday Hal and I took a break from life, some might say, to take part in a time honored fall activity – apple picking. We went last year toward the end of the season when the trees were over picked and the selection scarce. That made it all the more challenging (and fun) for Hal who was armed with one of those picking poles, which he became rather adept at using.

This year being that it’s still early enough in the season, we were greeted with rows of apple-laden trees.

There’s something about picking apples that just brings out the kid in me. It’s the memories of doing it as a child, climbing the trees, being surrounded by an endless supply to snack on, and getting to chuck your apple core onto the ground as if you’re giving it back to nature. I just get so excited.

Even though many of the apples were in arm’s reach, we got the picking pole anyway since I think it played an elemental role in Hal’s level of enjoyment during last year’s outing.

And rather than having to point at the choice apples high in the trees, I was able to actually pick them myself this year. Both of us were able to share in the apple picking fun, while he aimed for the high ones and I stuck to the low ones.

Half a bushel of apples later (that’s a lot!), and we have more than our share of Golden Delicious and Macintosh. Plenty to make the apple cherry crisp we devoured last year. There is that saying about 'an apple a day'. So what if it's covered in sugary juices and surrounded by a flaky pie crust and crumbly topping...and accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You only live once!