Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Take my hand, come with me

While I'd rather eat my own hair than brave another NYC winter, I do loves the fall foliage. So when Owen's preschool announced that we would all be going on an apple picking trip, I hastened to sign up. Which is a polite way of saying that I might have injured some people.

APPLE PICKING! Who knew that you could pick apples right off the tree? I mean I knew it in theory, but actually walking up to a tree and picking the apple right off? And eating it? Mind-blowing. Something else that's mind-blowing? Trees. We don't see many of them here in the big city. And don't give me that nonsense about Central Park. Elbowing banjo toting hipsters is fine, but sometimes a girl wants more than a view of a thousand straw fedoras.

The boy had a swell time. First of all he got to ride a bus, which would have been awesome enough on its own. We're smack dab in the middle of Toddler Transportation Obsession and riding on a bus with 40 of his closest friends was more than he'd hoped for. Good thing too, because the trip lasted 2 hours and photosynthesis isn't all that fascinating to a 2-year-old.


Highlights:

- The orchard was beautiful and made me wonder why I'm living in a 46-story slab of concrete.
- Owen ate 3 apples, one right after the other. We won't discuss the aftermath.
- Apple cider donuts are worth the investigation.
- The unspeakable adorableness of baby pigs may turn you temporarily vegetarian.
- No one under the age of 10 will willingly eat a nutritious lunch near a lifesize toy car.

1 comment:

Doni Welch said...

Well my friend: all I can say is that despite the fact we grew up with Rees orchard so close to home there is nothing like a trip like this. Sometime if you are in the need for a miraculous trip into nature... There is much I can show you between Alberta and British Columbia. There is nothing like the raw beauty of nature and the vast fields of orchards and wineries.

Living in the big city I agree is something that baffles the mind when you can experience a trip like this through the eyes of your child. There are times I wish the mall would disappear and stop its non-stop impeading of my view of the mountains. I miss the days of getting into my bus and driving 56+ people into the mountains and taking adventures with them. While having been a lowly bus driver was less than my dreams of teaching... it has opened opportunities for travel I might not otherwise have experienced.

And after all it isn't every bus driver who also gets to be one of 5 cgi models for a documentary filmed in the Spray Lakes of Cochrane Alberta. We just won't talk about what my "character" was.

I am so very happy for you and your little one. Sounds like it was one in a million!