Apple picking!

Welcome to July!

One of my favorite little stops in New Zealand was picking our own apples. Pulling an apple from a tree seems like such a basic experience, but few people have the opportunity to do it.

We chatted with the owner of the farm for about an hour. He was an older Kiwi who had planted these trees 30 years before.

I heard the old farmer speaking passionately about his fight against the corporate farms, which are growing larger. Hand farming is a dying art. Family-owned orchards that used to line the roads are being ripped up and replaced with concrete parking lots and gas stations. As sad as that is, there’s still a good side to it.

And it goes like this: I picked an apple.

I’ll explain. I get to say “I picked an apple.” and you (if you’ve never picked an apple) get to say “What was it like?” and I can try to tell you just what it felt like to take one off a tree.

This modern world is becoming disconnected from nature. Yet, we’re gifted with a chance to discover joys in simple things that other generations would have called common. As time progresses, human interaction with trees may become less common, but what won’t diminish is the incredible moment in which a tree gifts a person with a fruit.

Indy.