The Romance of Wild Red Apples
1. A car trunk-full of foraged apples played a role in the very first meeting between my husband, Joe, and me. Years later, a red apple was offered and ceremoniously eaten during our wedding on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
2. To this day, we are still held under the spell of wild apples, and each other. Every October, we hike into a remote valley off the Parkway to pick apples. As soon as we climb over the cow gate, it’s as if we enter a fairy tale, a place where paradise still exists and magic is possible.
3. Avoiding the cow patties, wet from the weekend rain, we pass an abandoned house site on the way to the hidden orchard. Or maybe the rubble of weathered chestnut timber on top of a flattened tin roof was a barn. The first tree we see full of red ripe apples takes my breath away.
4. A little further on, the pasture drops down into the bottom of the valley, where one lone apple tree stands. It’s our favorite. Something about the rich red color of its apples against the wide open blue sky feels timeless and renews my sense of the scared. A black crow calls a warning. A few grazing deer scatter as we approach.
5. Besides apples, we find pears. With our knapsacks full of bounty, we keep our eyes on the sky as we hike our way back up to the road. The late afternoon sun is already casting a golden glow as it drops low. But there’s still time to make it to the Saddle Overlook (where Joe and were got married 10 years ago) to watch the sunset. Sunset in the Blue Ridge Mountains is like a like an exclamation point at the end of a “once upon a time” day.
Post Notes:
1. To read about last year’s apple picking romance, go HERE.
2. Regional bloggers and those who read blogs are invited to the Café Del Sol on Thrusday at 11:00 to meet Terri Dulong of Island Writer. Terri is a published author and a Cedar Key neighbor of Floyd county tree farmers, Pat and Tom Devrin, who winter in Cedar Key.
October 9th, 2006 11:15 pm
It’s so incredible that my husband and I just went for a long drive in the country and came across old farms that had many apple trees as well as many just alongside the road. We stopped and picked some too. I wish I knew what variety they were but they were small, the perfect size for a taste, and very sweet. The bonus was there were no worms! And to think they were never sprayed! Wild and organic all in one!
The really weirdly synchronized thing is that I was just eating one while reading blogs, and then I went to yours! Couldn’t be more in tune than that!
October 10th, 2006 4:09 am
I love this yearly ritual of yours, dear Colleen…it’s like you and Joe renewing your vows in a way, isn’t it?
Lovely pictures and a lovely story, too.
I will be calling Terri’s Cell phone on Thursday at Noon your time and that will be 9am my time…(That is if I am awake!! (LOL)..I plan to be, my dear….
October 10th, 2006 6:14 am
Happy Anniversary! It sounds like you two have a perfect union. I see you are still following the sun, waiting for it to set – whether it be at the beach or the mountains. May the common thread in all your sunsets be the love of your life, Joe.
BTW – I found your ‘where I’m from’ post, followed the link to the template, and tried it, what fun!
October 10th, 2006 8:27 am
Colleen, I love the smell of apple orchards!
Enjoy your time with Terri, and say hello for me.
October 10th, 2006 11:24 am
This is so sweet. Love the scenary.
For Dh and I it is strawberries.
On our first date, he fed me fresh, picked strawberries. He also brought me cucumbers from his garden.
October 10th, 2006 12:15 pm
Lovely. Back in the day, my husband lived in a commune. The commune was on property that was home to an apple orchard. It took a really long time after living there for him to eat apples again!
October 10th, 2006 4:27 pm
It is apple season, and pumpkin too. I feel like a mother waiting for the birth of her baby….. who knew pumpkins took so long….
October 10th, 2006 4:55 pm
this post brought me to an oasis as i have been roaming around scorched by the parsity (scarcity) of love in so many young people’s lives today.
this post also reminded me of those amazing words that passed between us at the close of the day xoxo
October 10th, 2006 10:20 pm
Well, I almost hate to comment after Joe. That’s a tough act to follow.
We found an apple tree at the end of a cow pasture on the land that belonged to Amy’s grandparents last fall in Bland County. The apples were tiny and so sour, but the boys loved them and ate every one that we could reach. I think they liked them so much just because we found them on our own, sort of like a treasure.
Your post also reminds me that I need to make a trip to Bellspur near Meadows of Dan and pick a few apples from the tree my great-great-great granfather planted before leaving for the civil war. I think I have those greats right, but I might be off one or two. They are too sour on their own, but if you put a few into a pie with some golden delicious, then it gives it just the right amount of edge.
Apples had a role in my post today too!
October 10th, 2006 10:26 pm
That is so romantic…
I wish you many, many more apple pickings on equally beautiful days.
I love the pictures…the first has such a great depth of field that it is as if they are floating through the air. Very nice. I can’t believe what good trees you have just for wild apples…that is awesome!
October 11th, 2006 8:09 am
The elements of this “fairly tale” do make me think how magical it is that you and Joe found eachother. Makes me hungry too.
October 11th, 2006 11:30 am
so beautiful and inspiring..
absolutely wonderful.
October 11th, 2006 9:41 pm
How wonderful to be able to stroll where wild apples grow.
October 12th, 2006 4:21 am
Simply magical, in both words and pictures.
September 27th, 2012 8:21 am
[…] Four posts come up when I search the word “bounty” on my blog, including this: Besides apples, we find pears. With our knapsacks full of bounty, we keep our eyes on the sky as […]