Amazing things to do - Fall

Apple picking.

I find it to be incredibly therapeutic. Just being outside on a beautiful fall day - that's amazing enough. Plus, the kids are busy and having fun. Plus, you get a full box of apples. And not just any old apples: you get to choose your favorite variety (we love Stayman Winesap, Granny Smith, Pink Lady and Honeycrisp) and you get to pick the best of the best.

There is something magical about apple picking. Some trees are laden with apples, their branches weighed down, so you feel it a relief to pick at least a few apples. With other trees, it is like a game. At first, you can't see a single fruit and it takes some squinting and some side to side movement to spy a perfect apple. Then, all of a sudden, you see another...and another. It is so hard to stop. There is always another tree, another apple, one that looks even better, redder, rounder. And the kids, gently pulling apples, crunching on apples, putting apples in the box, pulling the old-fashioned wagon, "Mom, I found the biggest one... Look at me, I'm pulling the wagon with all the apples... We are going to make applesauce, and apple cake, and apple crisp, and..."

And then, there is the challenge of getting the apples to the car. With the three kids. One strapped to me, the other two, while somewhat obedient, are still young enough to require constant supervision. There is that box of apples - heavy and awkward - but "no wagon beyond this point". Almost always, there is a kind soul that helps me. Just receiving help from total strangers without asking - that's worth a lot, and makes me happy and hopeful about the world around me.

Do you go to "pick your own" orchards? What do you like picking the best?