Quintessential autumnal outing...

A couple of weekends ago, friends Alex and Sarah agreed to humor me and accompanied me to a local apple orchard for some fall festivities. Neither Alex, nor Sarah had ever been apple picking before, and I can't believe that their parents would deprive them of such a classic childhood memory; knowing all four of their loving parents, I can't believe this omission was intentional, but still they are without excuse (just kidding Kim, Mike, Martha and Tom).

That Saturday was one of those gorgeous, indian summer days, a breeze blowing, but unseasonally warm. We headed off to Hastings, paid our $2 to get into the orchard, never had to pay to get in before, but that did include unlimited access to the tractor/hay ride shuttle that circled, so I think it was worth it, and meandered thru one of the larger orchards I've encountered.

This outing always brings back vivid memories from childhood. Apple picking in NY before the days of genetically altered trees that only grow to the size of large bushes to eliminate the need, and thus lessen the fun and excitement, to climb trees or use those metal-fingered pickers on the end of a huge pole. The Great Apple Gathering just before Kate and James' wedding when we picked more apples than I've ever seen to fill their table centerpieces with juicy bounty, drank our first cider slushies ( sounds kinda gross, but actually quite tasty), and had apple fights (okay, okay, totally started that one, but really when you lob them, how much do they hurt? And don't you remember that Chip and Dale cartoon: "apple core, who's your friend...?") Grandma Weezie's apple tree behind her house on Lorraine, that she jealously and sometimes callously protects from the Bambi's that venture into her yard? Emma Krumbie's with Mom and Dad, Kate and I think Heather, and Uncle Hans and Ben? Might have been one of the last times I've seen Ben; Ben, where are you?

When Sarah, Alex, and I had picked our two bags worth, maybe even a few forbidden fruit off of some trees that were marked "no picking" on one end of a row, but we were on the other end, and how were we supposed to know we weren't supposed to pick them? We sat waiting for our hay covered limousine near the electric-fence boundary of the orchard and listened to a family banter. Mom, dad, son, and at least one daughter. The son has having a conversation with I think his sister, that went something like this: "Know what would be the best gift ever, maybe even for all of my birthdays and Christmases to come? If you would go and hold on to that fence for 20 seconds. That would be the best gift ever, that would be glorious!" The kid actually said that, almost verbatim, definitely including the word "glorious." And he was about 6 years old... Magical moment, for sure.

We finished our outing back at my apartment where we baked apple pies with our booty. One went to the U with Alex, where he finished most of it one afternoon after a long day of rugby, one went to the University of Wisconsin at River Falls with Sarah, one went with Kristin to the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, and the last went to Gap. I'm definitely partial to my Grandma Sue's sour cream apple pie recipe, but I think the sour cream scares most people off. Too bad, more pie for me.