So many of my favorite places will never fit in my apartment: the ocean is one (so my collection of shells will do), the jungle (I have my ferocious kitties) and the list goes on...
Autumn orchards are another. But even though I can’t have the orchard, I can have the apples. I like the earliest pick. They are the most compact and tart and give me squeaky-clean teeth from September to November. Beyond the benefit to my teeth, however, there is something about the orchard experience that makes these apples, more than all others, so addictive.
Enter Slideshow
The visit lingers on for weeks afterward. In my living room now is a bowl that is brimming with apples for guests (and me). They bring the gorgeous fall colors inside. Every time I bite into one I feel a rush, as if that day in the orchard remains in the apples themselves.
The only orchard I have ever known is Lapsley (in Pomfret, CT), a local institution. They always have something: fresh vegetables, fresh or dried flowers, pumpkins, squash and other gourds, peaches, and of course, apples. Macintosh and Macoun will always be my favorite. I even have my favorite trees that I like to pick from. This past week the horses were just being outfitted for this season’s hayrides through the orchard – something else best left out of my apartment.
If you live in the NE and are looking for a day trip, none can be more relaxing than apple picking. If you have a favorite place that can be reached by train please share with the AT readers! For those that can’t get out of the city, think GreenMarket. It’s a great stop for cider before heading out to see the leaves changing in the parks. I may not like all changes that come along with the seasons, but I will endure them all if it means that I can have my autumn apples. Matt N.
Looking for an orchard? Look here: www.pickyourown.org
Autumn is possibly the greatest season for food and sights in the country... but it's not Autumn yet! Summer's still the season and it's still prime beach weather! What's the rush???
Presumably the title on this piece is meant to allude to the old Victorian saying "You can't eat your cake and have it", which meant that some choices are irrecoverable. It's a shame that so many people are so stupid that they mangle the saying into "You can't have your cake and eat it", which of course is rubbish. You can have your cake, or apple, then eat it. What you can't do is eat your cake, or apple, then have it in your hand. It's gone. You ate it.
Get it right.
Or was my presumption wrong?
Haven't the ferrys stopped? Hasn't all this dry weather made you think of fall? Most every school has started. It is fall as far as I'm concerned and I'm happy for it. I never got to go to the beach as much as I wanted this summer, but I can't mourn when my favorite season is upon us.
eye, I think you may be wrong. What he is saying here is a reference, but he is talking about abundance, not a singular choice. A cake is a singular thing, just as the saying is talking about a single choice; here there are an abundance of apples, so yes, he can have his apples and eat them too. It can be seen a modern challenge to that Victorian thinking by saying that not everything is irrevocable.
Must all uses of a phrase conform to its original perameters? I think as long as you make sense, and have a beautiful point as Maxwell does, complaint is superfluous.
You're presuming that the "and" in the phrase, and the structure of the sentence both dictate the chronology of the events. Even "the stupid people" who mangle it understand that is not the intent of the phrase, regardless of how it is worded. Plus, in the context of the piece, he does indeed show us how to "eat" and "have", in (wonderfully) no particular order.
But then again there is always the expression "If you don't like the writing, bite me." In any order you choose. ;)
(Just my long-winded way of saying "Please leave the talented writer Matt alone when it comes to word-based criticism. He does this for all our benefit and is pretty damn good at it.)
sara,
the ferries have not stopped. I'm finished with school and I'm going to the beach. I'm not thinking of fall yet because everything is still green. Check your calendar. It's still summer.
It's a time when you can go to the beach and eat your apples, too. The night before the orchard I was taking a stroll at Harkness Park in Waterford, one of the most beautiful (and only)beaches in CT. The air was wonderful.
I agree, not Autumn yet - but the weather has changed enough to make those first apples ready.
My point is that apples are a beautiful addition to the apartment, just as much as a flower arrangement or plant. And the activity of obtaining them only adds to their attractiveness. There is no fussing or worry about cutting or arrangement. You put them in a bowl and enjoy - they are at home in almost any decor.
sara a--
"Met Flowers" Matt is actually the author of the piece... although Maxwell may have indeed penned the "controversial" title. :)