Pick an Apple, Any Apple
It’s a tradition: September and apple picking. Now that the summer heat was out of the air, it seemed almost an appropriate time to go.
After church we convened at the Big House for bowls of bean chili, with just enough time for Thumper to join the crew.
Then for the third year in a row, we hit up Thierbach’s in Marthasville for sacks of green-gold fruit. Fifteen passengering it through green-gold farmland in the early days of pre-autumn, hay wheels, vineyards, ripe crops, and, of course, orchards heavy with apples.
It took almost a whole hay wagon – minus the hay – to fit the seventeen of us (after Jaya’s family joined our posse) to haul us across the quiet highway to a large spread of fruit trees.
It being Yali’s first experience walking the apple lanes, I was surprised when Francis handed him a discarded piece of red fruit and he began munching without really thinking about it. Later, he worked on a greener version with a sort of Japanese name. Meanwhile, big brother Puck was off like an arrow, plastic apple-picking bag in hand.
“I’M GOING TO PICK THE BEST APPLES!”
About twenty minutes later, we waited for the wagon back. The day was warming up and Puck was sweating through his apple orchard hoodie given to him by Rose after it shrunk. He carted a sack heavy with fat golden-green fruit, some of them large enough to sink a small ship. Somewhere nearby, a turkey gobbled.
Back on the grounds, pretty much everyone fueled up on peach and strawberries smoothies, browsing the local honey, produce, and other items available for purchase. Francis found himself a homemade donut, almost went for a second. Carrie-Bri and I also confirmed that the Cardinals had avoided a sweep in Cincinnati via van radio. No one had cell service that deep into the country.
Philly’s Pizza rounded out our visit west, where our table dug into baskets of breadsticks and “The Odie” (man ‘n cheese pizza). Although Yali and Puck stuck with the bacon cheddar burger option. And Puck filled up so much on smoothie and soda that he was only hungry for one bite of pizza.
CARDINALS:
2.5 games up on Pittsburgh: 89 and 54; 19 games remaining.
Magic Number: 18.