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October 18, 1998

An apple a day...

From now on, I will try to put a photograph of myself with every new journal entry. I am really impressed by the journalists that have a new picture of themselves with every entry and I think that I shall do the same. So, every entry, I have decided to try to put some photograph that represents me. I took this while I was driving home from apple picking with Mike today. No, I did not take the photograph while going at any speed. The traffic was horrendous and I took the photograph in one of the many lulls (can you see the outline of the steering wheel reflected in my glasses?). Mike figures that it was because everyone was trying to get their pumpkin for Halloween. I could only nod in agreement. I told Ma a few weeks ago that I was interested in going apple picking. She thought this was an excellent idea and said that one of her officemates told her that there was a good place somewhere to go apple picking. I asked her to get that information for me and this week, she brandished a piece of paper with scribbled instructions to the orchard. Today became the target date for the trip to the orchard. I had thought the entire family was coming... but then I discovered that Els has an interview for Wellesley (sp?) at noon and can't come. So, it turns out that only Mike and I are going. There were quite a number of people at the orchard, and I was frightened that there would be no apples left for us. It was the last day of the harvesting season at Eastmont Orchard and everything was half price (39 cents per pound. You can't beat that, Constant Reader). Looking at the first few trees , I was initially disappointed in the quality of apples. Yet, I gritted my teeth and hoped that we could find enough apples for everyone that I was getting them for (our family, Tita Edith (father's sister) and Tita Helen (mom's sister). Knowing Mike, I knew he would find me some nice batches of apples (he's a determined guy when he has a "mission to perform"). Mike asked me how many apples we were getting. I told him how many we needed (ourselves, times three) and he sent me off to get another two bags. Discovering the lost Iko in it's non-native habitat... It was easy getting back out of the orchard to the young ladies handing out plastic bags to people entering the orchard. Getting back in and finding Mike, however, was an adventure. I thought I had counted the rows correctly, but apparently not. I was lost. I started calling out, "Mr. Lake? Mike? Mr. Lake?" Eventually, I found him but not without a great deal of difficulty. Here I am coming out of the brush after finding him. Does my expression give you the impression that I'm going to kill him? Mike and I combed through the trees and found some good batches of apples. Triumphant! Mike demonstrates his prowess... I found a few golden apples but it looks like most of the apples left are of the red variety. Mike instructed me to look for apples that were more reddish and lacked bruises. He advised that ripe apples would easily come off the tree. There were a number of apples that looked gorgeous that didn't give off with a simple tug. I left those be. I bow to the wisdom of Mr. Lake. Bees? Wasps? You decide. Mike spotted these insects feeding in a bruise in an apple. The juice of the apple was shiny and gave off a sweet-pungent smell that apparently attracted these babies. It was a sweeter smell than the pungent-fruitrotting smell that the orchard generally gives off. I always thought these were wasps but Mike is convinced that they were bees. Hmm.. When we were leaving , Mike reminded me of the 3-2-1 Contact episode where the bee handler demonstrated that when bees are feeding, they are as docile and you can pet them. I remember that episode very well, one of the most coherent episodes in my memory. That was a good show. Now we have tele-tubbies. It's sad. The MTV generation is here. After the orchard, I asked Mike if he wanted to go to the crafts fair. I certainly was interested. He said sure. I think it was because the weather was gorgeous and he was just in a generally agreeable mood. It ended up being a good idea. I bought a gorgeous wooden frog pin (I might order other things from them) and bought a wrought-iron candle holder for Ma. She said she liked that and Mike approved that as well. I had promised Tito Buddy (mom's brother) and Tita Dotte (mom's sister) that I would get them a white gourd for decoration. Spinning wheel.. well.. ok, it wasn't spinning. We stopped by at a garden store that was selling really good looking pumpkins (atleast, according to Mike) and there I bought a pumpkin for the front of the house, two white gourds, and one orange one for myself to bring to work tomorrow. That ended our delightful jaunt for the day. It was gorgeous and I'll not forget it soon. Mike said that his was a great weekend for him with the gaming yesterday and the apple picking and spending time with me. I'm glad he's happy. It makes me happy. We're all happy!

© Copyright 1998, Eileene Coscolluela
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