wonder(ful)

“Our response to the world is essentially one of wonder, of confronting the mysterious with a sense, not of being small, or insignificant, but of being part of a rich and complex narrative.”
- John Burnside

Spencer apples...I think

Rows of Heaven!

Drooling like Homer Simpson just thinking about these.

Can you guess where we went last week? 

 The Farm took a group of about 20 people to a local apple orchard where we then spent over an hour and a half gathering dropped apples, said apples are now being made into applesauce and apple cider with the Farm's own apple press. 

My boss Flava Flav let me go and I couldn't have been happier. The afternoon, one of those ridiculously bucolic New England ones with a  sky so baby blue, soft, downy clouds and a warm sun; air just hinting at cool, but comfortable enough to go sans sweaters; leaves vibrant with searingly vivid hues of orange, yellow and red EVERYWHERE; each New England curve in the road wrapped us around into another vista that was gorgeous. The newest German volunteer, Magdalena, and I kept exclaiming with joy at the wonder that was fall that day.

And then we arrived at the orchard which literally smelled of apples. I had smelled apples from the trees in my old yard, but that was generally because the ones underneath had fallen and split or lay rotting; that almost sickeningly sweet, past-date smell, but these trees smelled of fresh, ripe apples. Each inhalation was a drink of fresh cider! I don't think I'd be fibbing if I said that I spent my first 5 minutes in the orchard deep breathing--yoga schmoga more people should deep-apple-breath! And my God! The taste! There is nothing like a fresh apple, warm from the sun, washed by rains. I think I ate four or five. I ate until I felt full and content and happy. (I literally just sighed thinking about it.)

The time there was Heaven. If you've never gone to an orchard--do! I love fall so much, with its apple cider, applesauce, cider doughnuts, pumpkins and foliage. It's a beautiful life!