Apples, Rainbows, and a Face in the Clouds

Today was supposed to be about apples...and it was, but it didn't end quite as expected. I am indifferent to apples for 11 months of the year. During apple picking season though, there is nothing I like better. Empires and Spartans were up for grabs today at a "U-Pick" orchard outside the city. I ate three apples before I even started to think about filling my bag. There is no beating the crispness of an apple right off the tree.

But apple picking (and the requisite side-trip to find the perfect pumpkin) is about much more than good apples. It's about building great memories. When I was a kid, my family would go apple picking every fall. There was something very special about riding out to the orchard on a wagon pulled by a tractor and stuffing our faces in the field. It was always a good day.

Those are the kinds of memories I want for my little sprout. Cozy and comforting. It was a good day despite the rain that fell...sometimes poured...intermittently through the afternoon. As we headed home, the skies began to clear and the sun came out. A perfect rainbow appeared over the highway. It was the perfect ending to the day. I got my camera out to capture the rainbow but I captured so much more.

Do you see it? I haven't fiddled with it in any way. It came straight off my camera and onto this blog. I think this picture is awesome. The rainbow is cool but the cloud formation is way cooler. It was there for a few minutes before dissipating.

Soon after taking these photos I arrived home to learn that a dear family friend had passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was a friend of my parents and one of the people responsible for some of my happiest childhood memories. When I was very little he would lift me up to a chandelier in my parent's home. I would run my hands through the crystal prisms. They made a beautiful, fairy-like, tinkling sound, all the while casting crazy rainbows that appeared to bounce all over the walls. That's right...crazy, dancing rainbows.

I'm trying not to attach any meaning to this confluence of photos and bad news. It's just what happened, right? Still, it's interesting how a day about apples led to a day about rainbows, a disappearing face in the clouds and indelible memories of a truly wonderful person. You'll be missed.