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Here’s another lesson that writers can learn from picking apples: When you’re done with the stretching, reaching, and organizing, when all is safely gathered in, your efforts are not in vain. Share them; they can be an inspiration to someone else’s creativity.

Here, then, is the rest of the story that started with Robert Frost and continued with The Osmonds. I shared the entire harvest of our apples, from a modest two trees, with a friend who has a small farm of her own (no apple trees) and a family who can use them.

She wrote back:

The following is the true history and use of these here apples, which have really experienced transformation since four sackfuls headed home in the trunk of the car:

• A “welcoming back to the USA” party pie for friends from the Hong Kong Toy and Trade Show
• Three no-sugar apple pies, heavy on the cinnamon
• Apple crisps
• Apples for George’s oatmeal
• Six at a time out of the bag by Jay the mountain man
• A bag of fresh and a ziplock of dehydrated handfuls for Rebecca’s school breakfast snacks
• Chunky applesauce homemade with cinnamon
• Apple chips for hungry poll-workers
• Eva’s apple peeler off the shelf of honor and employed again
• Apple pancakes by our elderly shut-in friend
• The Great Movie Night Apple-Peeling Contest (Eva’s peeler won over three different types of hand peelers, hands down)
• Food bank offerings that did not make it out of the door before they were bit into, juice dribbling down young chins
• Happy rabbit snacks of the peels and cores, (no waste, plus garden benefits)

Apple scrap jelly is no doubt in the future, and we still have some in the ice-box and a sackful next to the fridge waiting for ice-box space. On the to-do wish list: homemade apple cider vinegar and apple jack. I have an apple press in the garage that has been waiting for years for a job to do. We all thank you for the taste and full flavor of autumn’s bounty and joy. I even have a sack of apple seeds in the fridge, just like Johnny Appleseed. The books say they need cold storage before planting. They will probably grow some sort of crabapple variety as root stock is generally different from seed stock. Birds like crabapples; I can attest that in the springtime our crabapple trees are covered in male robins, who arrive first and very hungry. They eat crabapples when the ground is still too frozen for worms!

Spreading the bounty and wealth all over from these trees of yours, with love and deep joy,

Celeste

Harvest the bounty

So, as we pick our words and our apples, we should remember that they can become so much more when they inspire others to be creative.

And did you notice that part about Johnny Appleseed? Our efforts can germinate for another generation as well.