Today was a gorgeous day, reminding me of a poem my Dad always quotes, proclaiming "October's bright blue weather." Sometimes it seems as if there couldn't be bluer skies than October's. Maybe it's the trees in mid-change, or the shortening of the days making the daylight all the more precious. Whatever the reason, today was a beautiful day, and I decided to make an "apple run" up to Rennhack Orchard Market in Hart, about 75 miles from my house. The Sweetango apples have been in since just after Labor Day, and I have already made one "run," about a month ago. Sweetangoes, for those of you who are unaware, are a Honeycrisp/Zestar hybrid, and they blow any other eating apple out of the water, at least for me. (They are extra delicious when eaten sliced on a multigrain cracker, atop pieces of warmed Juusto squeaky cheese. Drool.) We discovered them in the orchard market on Labor Day weekend, three years ago. We had a peck bag of Honeycrisps in our arms, ready to check out, when one of the employees pointed out "samples" on a sideboard, and suggested, "If you like Honeycrisps, you'll like Sweetangoes." I took a bite, and after a cartoonish pause and sidelong glance, abandoned my Honeycrisps back on the shelf and grabbed a bag of Sweetangoes. Haven't looked back since. There's a reason the owner called them "crack apples." My friends concur.
Typically I drive up on one of my days off during apple season. I usually solicit "orders" from friends, to make the trip worthwhile, but honestly, if I were just going up to get a 1/2 bushel for us, I'd still make the trip. It has become a kind of ritual day-trip for me, and all the better if the weather is glorious. In the past I have gone with a friend, and that's fun, but in recent months I have realized exactly how much I like driving alone. The fact that I got a new job last year and exchanged a 25-minute drive in one direction for a 30-minute drive in the other direction didn't bother me at all. The time in the car is "my" time. Strangely enough, I don't listen to music so much, although sometimes I put the mp3 player on "Divine Shuffle" and see what comes up. More often I will trade off listening to something, and then talking to the Lion about things. It's amazing what he reveals in that protected time, when I really can't be doing many things other than piloting the car.
I usually drive up to the orchard market and get the goods, and then (since I'm up there) I take some time to drive over to Lake Michigan, or to Silver Lake Dunes, stopping to take photographs along the way. On my last trip up there in September, I had no sooner gotten the apples loaded into the car than I got a call from the school. With some trepidation (and thinking, "I don't remember one of them saying she was sick this morning"), I answered the phone. Genevieve (my 10-year-old) had split the seam of her shorts and needed a fresh, undamaged pair. Hm. How to handle this from 75 miles away? I asked if she could get some safety pins, and make do until I could get home and take her some different shorts. She said, "OK, Mama." Later on, when I saw the damage, I realized that no number of safety pins could have helped, though perhaps some duct tape might have been in order. The back seam of her cotton Bermuda shorts was split from the waistband all the way into the mid-crotch and down the inseam of one leg. When she does something, she does it thoroughly. Apparently she covered it up by tying her sweatshirt around her waist, but she did it so suavely that nobody in her class noticed. Clever girl.
Because of the Great Ripped Shorts Incident, I had greatly to curtail my activities normally pursued on an Apple Run day. (Bad Mommy Award - I didn't drive straight home, because I figured it was going to be at least 90 minutes anyway, and if she could make do for 90 minutes, she could make do for longer. Witness my dedication to furthering my 5th grader's stamina and independent thinking skills.) So today I made sure everyone was wearing clothes that fit, that no one had any unexplained rashes or strange coughs, that everyone had her lunch/sneakers/library books/whatever so that it would be unlikely for me to have to return early. I meant to enjoy the day.
And I did. The drive up to Hart is roughly a right-angle - west for 13 miles, and then north for another 62. Not much construction (and what there was I had encountered the last time, so the detour didn't throw me) and little traffic. Not that Michigan has a real traffic problem compared with other places I've lived, such as Chicago and Boston, but for around here, it was pretty normal. I had a full tank of gas, some good tunes, bright sunshine, my camera(s), and the prospect of some unfettered "me" time, with pleasant decisions to make, such as what to have to lunch, and what body of water to photograph.
One nice thing I noticed today was that I noticed things. In the last couple of weeks I haven't been feeling the greatest; I'm getting over a cold, and I have been a little down, and kind of in my own world. That isn't my usual "me" state. I was pleased that today, instead of only seeing what I needed in order to function safely, I saw pieces of the world that flickered around the edges and caught my attention with their beauty - like seeing what's really there, instead of what one merely expects to see. It also "happened" that one song I listened to on the drive up was Bruce Cockburn's "World of Wonders." Perfect song for noticing things. In case you don't know already, I'm a big Bruce Cockburn fan - love his poetry and his music. A few months ago we got to see him perform at Calvin College, at the Festival of Faith and Writing (or "Writhing," as he called it from onstage). He's a splendid performer, a funny guy, and he just KNOWS. He's been there.
So, I'm going to end here (lest this get hugely long[er]) with those lyrics, and see you another time for the remainder of today's story.
**************
Stand on a bridge before the cavern of night
Darkness alive with possibility
Nose to this wind full of twinkling lights
Trying to catch the scent of what's coming to be in this
World of wonders
World of wonders
World of wonders
World of wonders
Somewhere a saxophone slides through changes
Like a wet pipe dripping down my neck
Gives me a chill, sounds like danger
But I can't stop moving 'til I've crossed this sector of this
World of wonders....
There's a rainbow shining in a bead of spittle
Falling diamonds in a rattling rain
Light flexed on moving muscle
I stand here dazzle with my heart in flames at this
World of wonders...
Moment of peace like brief Arctic bloom
Red-gold ripple of the sun going down
Line of black hills makes my bed
Sky full of love pulled over my head in this
World of wonders...
**************
It truly is. Good night.
wb
No comments:
Post a Comment