Appley-dapply

We went apple picking at the farm again yesterday.  We got there early in the morning.  The crickets were still chirping and the grass sparkled with a blanket of dew.  Even the apples we picked were misted with dew - not enough sun yet to dry them.  We got down to business right away since the kids like to play.  It suits me fine, this arrangement.  

Even though it doesn't take us too long to pick a good 20 lb bag, we always have the most incredible conversations.  So many questions from little ones as they go.  Most of the time they are completely unrelated to apples by the way.  Profound questions.  They are sweet kids - all of them.  

Tomorrow I am hoping to make a pie with the little ones.  Also, we love our apple sauce, cakes and crisps.  But I think, hands down, our favourite way to eat apples is crunchy and raw.  The fresher, the better.  Apples don't last long in our house.  If I filled up a fridge with apples, it would probably only last a month or two.  Apple picking reminds me of Beatrice Potter's book "Appley-Dapply's Nursery Rhymes".  Can't say why since it's not exactly related to apples.  

Anyhow, we love picking apples.  It's fun, satisfying work for a kid.  Harvesting the fruit, remembering where it came from, how it came, enjoying the fresh taste and texture.  The view from the peak of the hill before you head down to trail near the creek is stunning.  It makes you pause, breathe in the air more deeply, more thankfully.  In the presence of such majesty - such sweeping splendour - the only thing that comes to mind is: "how glorious are thy works, O Lord!  In wisdom, thou hast made them all."  

This morning we woke up to some fog in the distance.  Not very unusual.  But then I looked twice and it looked like there was a city, or a building, in the clouds.  Another dimension of life.  :)  Of course, it was just a condo building mantled in mist, but just for a second, it stood in the sky by itself. Another  glorious reminder...