Johnny Appleseed Day

Eat an apple on going to bed,

and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread.

September 26th is Johnny Appleseed Day. We think of him as the comical Disney figure who traveled the wilds of America spreading apple seeds. He was in fact a serious missionary by the name of John Chapman, an original American St. Francis, with a love and respect for all living creatures.

Chapman was one of the first ethical vegetarians and went to great pains not to hurt animals, including insects. Most of the apples he cultivated went into the production of hard cider.   

In Colonial America, cider was the most common beverage, and even children drank it in a diluted form. In many places, the water was not safe and most homesteads had apple orchards.

Give me Chardonnay, or give me death.

Hard cider is popular again and there are all sorts of artisan brands at the grocery store with appealing labels. I like the idea of cider more than the reality of drinking it. I've tried a few times and it was harsh on the stomach. Maybe hard cider needs heavy colonial food, like a lard pie or squirrel stew. 

So much for September ending on a mellow note. The wind is whipping the trees this morning and we're getting drenched. Power outages here and there around Seattle. It's about to get quite chilly too, with first snow in the high mountains.  Our stormy weather matches the political mood in that "other Washington."

Anyway, it's more like a late October forecast. I'm bummed and so is my riding friend. Between the bad weather and a string of appointments stretching into next week, we can't get over Vashon Island to trail ride in the fall woods.