For those who live in a region where there are four distinct seasons, the feelings of change are once again in the air. Each season has its own highlights. In the midwest, one of the highlights of fall is apple picking. It’s time to head to the orchards. The air is crisp, the skies are blue, and the apples hang in abundance from the trees. And it is also time to once again pull out a copy of Apple Picking Time by Michele Benoit Slawson.
For our family, apple picking is a fun outing on a fall day. Sometimes, though, apple picking is an event that draws a community together to gather the harvest in a timely fashion. Such is the case in Apple Picking Time. We see through the eyes of a third-generation apple picker named Anna the importance of each person doing their part to complete the harvest.
In the pre-dawn hours, the apple pickers arise and head to the orchards. Anna joins her father and mother in the procession with big plans to pick an entire bin all by herself. She climbs the ladder, leans in to free both of her hands for picking, and begins. Twist, snap! Twist, snap!
As the morning progresses, she hears others call out as they fill up their bins. “Full.” Then the rumble of the tractor can be heard as it whisks away the full bin and replaces it with an empty one. But Anna’s bin is not full. It is not even full as they break for lunch.
The community aspect of their task is on display as they all participate in the well-deserved break. Blankets are spread, picnic baskets are opened, and music and laughter fills the air. But all too soon, the lunch break is over and the work must resume. The apple pickers face the hardest part of the day, both the afternoon sun and their own fatigue. Will Anna fill her bin before day’s end?
Enjoy Apple Picking Time by Michele Benoit Slawson. And then, if it is remotely possible where you live, head out to an orchard to pick some apples of your own. I wonder if you, like us, will find that the challenge to apple picking is never whether or not you can fill your bags to the brim. Rather it is to not pick more than you can (1) carry or (2) pay for before leaving the orchard or (3) eat before the apples lose their fresh-picked crispness.
If you are lucky, your excursion will end, like ours always does, with a gallon of apple cider and a dozen or more freshly-made cake donuts. The combination is unbeatable. And then, you can pick up a copy of How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman on your way home to bake an apple pie.