DAY 288 - THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT

Day 288

This picture was taken by Alain, one of my students.

Hopefully you will not be too disappointed, but I'm not going to talk about sex (maybe one day I will), but about the fruit Eve ate and shouldn't have eaten: the apple!

Apple-picking is one of my favourite summer-into-fall activities. On a crisp autumn day, there is nothing better than blue skies, green grass and fresh red apples. I usually go with my children, but this year I went with my students. 

When we arrived at the orchard last Friday afternoon, I looked around and finally understood why apples have held such a place in mythology. The contrast of the red of the apples against the green of the trees and the blue of the sky created such a picturesque and mystic scenery.

My students were all excited about apple picking.  I have many immigrant students and some of them have only been in Canada for a couple of months, so it was a new experience for them.  Jose, a Venezuelean student, was particularily happy.  He told me he had always wanted to visit an orchard, that in Venezuela, all he could pick were mangoes!  I wish I could go mango picking!  I guess "exotic" is a relative concept. 

As soon as we arrived, another of my students, Tanya, who is Bulgarian, started climbing a tree.  Right away I ran to her, telling her if she wanted, I could bring her a ladder so it would be easier for her to climb. She burst out laughing telling me that she loved climbing trees, that it was part of the experience...

At the end of the day, I came back home with a gigantic bag of Macintosh apples, my favorite kind.  I also arrived home feeling that doing that activity had brought happiness to my students and a time, for all of us, where we truly got to enjoy each other's company and live in the PRESENT!

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