Orchard Walk

I thought today was to be dark and dreary, but the sun peeked through here and there, and the air was warm. Well, it was warm some of the time. The wind played games and changed direction, randomly casting a cold lake breeze across the yard sending us looking for jackets, and then settling down again causing us to take them off again. An orchard walk was in order when my sister Rachel came over. We walked a small loop across the street with Sabrina and Spence, who decided to be carried, and then a big loop through the orchards behind the house.

One orchard melds into another with hardly a noticeable difference. We walked from the Fox's orchard into Orbaker's hardly telling one from another. In summer one can tell one orchard from another by the length of the grass growing beneath the apple trees, but all the grass short today.

The old apple trees are slowly disappearing, making way for younger, newer varieties. I still find the older trees most fascinating. I love them best, the uniformity in the way they're placed and how they grow. I find them enchanting.

A strip of woods separates one orchard property from another. We walked into almost unknown (to me) territory where remain some old and gnarly apple trees. Tall and reaching upward, once plentiful, they are now rare and endangered. I need to walk back again when the blossoms cover the spreading branches. All too soon this beauty may be gone...