Apples!

Aaahh, the late days of Summer....

Is there anything better than lying in the grass, relaxing, enjoying the sunshine and the hint of crispness in the not-quite-Fall air?

Come join your little niece, granddaughter, cousin, or person-of-extraordinary-interest for some quiet contemplation on the beauty of.... Whose blog do you think you're reading?!


Quiet and contemplative? When Mom and Dad take you to an apple orchard for the first time? Are you kidding me?! There are apples—apples everywhere! Apples on the ground, apples on the trees, red ones, green ones, mushy ones, and—AND those girls at the booth where we got the bag said we could taste test.

Taste test.

I heard it. You can't unsay it—not something like that. Genies and bottles, Dad.

I hear you, Dad. You and Mom keep saying "put them in the bag", but clearly, you're missing the whole world of possibilities opened by that magical phrase, "taste test".

Okay, this one's tart, so maybe you have a point about choosing carefully.

Or...maybe you just need to broaden your horizons a little. Pick up the pace and find some others.

Okay, here's my contemplative pose.

I ponder the apple in my left hand ("alas, poor Yorick..."), weighing its merits against the one in my right, thinking that it would be convenient to be an octopus....

Why would anybody eat just one apple at a time? I hear the words, but they don't make sense. I have a two hands, there are loads of apples here....

Parental note: It turns out that a little girl with an apple in each hand is actually much more predictable than a little girl with one or more open hands.
You can apply this lesson to numerous contexts. Grocery shopping, for instance, is easier if those hands aren't empty.

You can't be overly concerned about getting grass on your apples. When you have bites out of multiple apples—and that's really the only way to live—eating a little grass is just part of the experience. My advice: embrace it. Don't let a little grass keep you from experiencing life to its fullest.

There are just too many pictures from the trip to the orchard to fit into one post. Elaina's not near done with her visit. Stay tuned.