Apple Picking

It is September 2020. I am at Chudleigh’s Farm in Milton, Ontario Canada apple picking with my two young daughters. Chudleigh’s is only 20-minutes from my home but you really feel like you are out in the country. It is a sunny but cool morning, a perfect day for apple picking.

I have gone apple picking while single, with my brother, gone while dating my wife and now bringing my kids since literally when they were born. As I watch other families with young kids I am both saddened and joyful. My parents never took me apple picking as a kid so I don’t have that tradition from my upbringing. I am joyful though as I am creating a tradition for my own family that they can pass along and hopefully bring their own kids. 

As we begin apple picking I notice a family speaking Spanish to a bunch of migrant workers who are picking apples high up on a crane attached to a harness. As the family leaves I make eye contact with the worker and smile and give him the thumbs up sign. I feel a connection with him. I am thankful and grateful for him for picking apples for us to enjoy in juices, pies or other baked goods. I can also relate to him as I today am also picking apples to enjoy with my family. My thoughts go to him as he moves to another tree as I think of him picking apples to make money for his family that is far away. I wonder how much he misses his family and realize how lucky I am.