A Day in the Country

One of my favorite fall activities is getting out into the crisp air and heading to our favorite apple orchard, Afton Apple. We put away the busyness and craziness of the city, and head south just far enough to enter into the countryside. Mark and I were planning to go a couple of weeks from now, when the air would be a bit cooler and the weather would be a bit more fall-like. But then, earlier this week I had heard the weatherman say that the fall colors were peaking right now in my area. He stated, "If you want to get out there and do fall activities, do them this weekend. After that, it'll be too late to enjoy the fall." I took his words to heart, and so yesterday, we made the drive to Afton Apple to have a day in the country.

The weather was gorgeous. I do not think there could have been a better day in October. The air was warm, up around 75 degrees, and the sun the shining high. A small part of me wished that it would have been a bit cooler and crisper out, but I realized that this might be the last day of sun and warmth for quite a few months. So I embraced it, and prepared for a warm day outdoors.

We got to Afton Apple around noon, and it was perfect timing. The early crowd had gone home, and the afternoon crowd didn't start showing up until about 2:00 or so. We started at the apple sampling station, but Mark was more excited than the little kids and wanted to just run through the orchard, trying each type off of the tree. So blindly we entered the orchard, not quite sure what we were looking for. Luckily, the orchard labels every row so you know what you're picking.








We ran through the first few sections, trying each type of apple but not finding many types that we wanted to pick and take home. After a while, we realized that there were more apples on the ground, rotten through to the core, than there had been in the trees to pick.



And, of those that were still on the trees, many were rotten and wormed. We don't really know what the deal is. Did they have a bad crop this year? Did we come later than we had in past year, and missed the prime of apple time? We didn't really find out, but we became a little bummed that we had been running around and eating apples for quite some time, but we didn't have much in our bag.



But, being the eternal optimist that I am, I brought our spirits right up and suggested that we take the hayride over to another section of the orchard where the Honey Gold, my favorite apple, and the Sweet 16 are grown.





About halfway down one of the endless rows of Honey Golds, we hit the jackpot. We found the Tree of Fruitfulness, and were able to pick enough apples to fill our entire bag. Mark had to crawl in, up, and under a tree to get to them, but once he was in, there was no stopping the flow of apples. And, he escaped with only a few minor scratches.





After the Honey Gold experience, we headed back into the main area of the orchard where there is a cider demonstration, petting zoo, face painting, a large jungle gym, and a store where all things apple may be purchased. We stopped for a moment at the cider demonstration, tasting freely cored and pressed apple cider. It was delicious - so fruity and light instead of harsh and tart as some ciders can be. We took our small cups over to the petting zoo area, where we spent a good deal of time watching animals interacting with children, some eating it all up and some too cool to be bothered by small children. They had the usual petting zoo animals: cows, pigs, goats, a donkey, and, the coolest animal there, a llama. At one point, the llama came over to Mark and me and just stuck his big head in our faces, as if to say, "What are you looking at?!" I can't lie; we giggled like school kids.







At that point, it had gotten quite busy at the orchard, and we were pretty exhausted. We made our way into the store, where we purchased our pickings from the day as well as a sure-to-be-delicious frozen apple pie. Mmmmmmm....might have to make that for football today.

I think that we're still going to try to get out in a couple of weekends and do pumpkin picking and carving as well as a corn maze. I'm so glad that we went out yesterday though. It really was a fun-filled, and much-needed, day in the country.

Time

October 2nd, 2006. Where did the year go? It actually scares me that it is already October 2nd, 2006. Literally, I have a small fear in my stomach as I write this. How did it get so late?

Late in the year...wasn't I just planning Heather's bridal shower? Wasn't I just gallivanting around South Dakota with Mark? Wasn't I just announcing my engagement?

Late in the decade...wasn't I just in college, staying out way too late at night, probably drinking way too much Hooch and Smirnoff Ice, and making the best memories of my life? Wasn't I just a teenager, hanging out by bonfires on summer nights and going to proms and homecomings?

Even late in my life already...wasn't I just a small girl, playing with Barbies, having slumber parties and having tea parties on my parent's deck? Wasn't I just attending St. Charles School, playing basketball and cheerleading on winter Sundays?

And now, here I am. A bonafide adult. Before I knew it. I'm working 40 hours a week; I'm paying bills and worrying about savings, both short-term and for retirement; I'm getting married.

Life seems to be moving more and more quickly as time goes on. The older I get, the more time passes before I realize it. As children, we have the luxury of not worrying or caring about the passage of time. For children, time is an arbitrary and surreal idea. And it passes so slowly. Do you remember how long it took for your birthday to come every year? For Halloween? For Christmas? It seemed like FOREVER before Santa Claus would be visiting with gifts for good girls and boys. Children fill their time with fun and laughter and play.

As we get older, the fun and laughter and play is pushed aside as more time is made for worry and work and stress. We can't find the time or make the time to do things we enjoy, even little things like taking a walk with our significant other or going to lunch with a friend. When time is wasted or killed, we curse that we should have done something more significant with our time.

Lately, I've been thinking more and more about the passage of time in my own life. Like I said, it actually gives me little pangs of fear that 2006 is over 3/4 over. This past year has by far been the fastest of my life. I just didn't have enough time for the things that I wanted to do. And the things that I did do went by so quickly that I'm not sure I even enjoyed them as much as I possible could have.

This last idea is what I fear most. I look to my future - even just 5 years into it - and I see getting married, buying my first home, and having my first child. Is time going to pass by so quickly over the next 5 years that I don't even have time to enjoy these amazing moments in life? Am I going to be moving so fast into the future that I can't possibly revel in my joy in the present?

I am going to make the conscious decision to make the answer to those questions No. No, I will not rush through life and miss the wonder of it all. No, I will not allow time to move me ahead when I'm not yet ready to. No, I will not lose any joy just because time is at my back pushing me forward.

I will stop and enjoy. I will relax and let time pass me by if it wishes, while I stay put where I want to be. I will take in the mindset of children and pay no attention to time.

In my adult life, I will spend my time with fun and laughter and play.