Apples

Mmmm...is any autumn complete without apples?  Each year, we go apple picking at Ditmar's Orchard just outside of Council Bluffs, IA.  http://www.ditmarsorchard.com/
We bump up to the orchard behind the huffing tractor, bags in hand. The children chatter, Bruce and I grin.

This year we had perfect weather: sunny but not too warm, late enough in the year to be free of insects.  Any day I get to climb an apple tree is a good day. I generally wander off, drunken with the heady apple scent that drifts across the orchard.  The trees are loaded, each one more enticing than the next--which one shall I choose next? I go deeper into the dappled light.

I am actually afraid of heights.  Not sure when that happened--I used to go ballooning with friends when I was a kid, but now a ferris wheel or the Skyfari fill me with fear.  Not so in a tree--any tree for that matter.  I creep up, taking care not to stress any branches, and feel utterly safe.  Once again in the bright sunlight, I reach for those delectable orbs--Pomona's bounty--hanging invariably just beyond my reach.

We return home with three large bags of apples, plus two bottles of wine.  They were waiting in the car for me as I was tasting the varied selections.  oops.

Two apple trees are heading to our home.  A small variety, called a compspur.  http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=155
One red (for me) and a yellow (Bruce's favorite) will stand on either side of our front porch, petite enough for the kids to harvest. 
I can still head out to Ditmar's for some tree climbing-- I'll need cooking apples, after all.  And their wine. 

An apple a day--
Kate