Pick Your Own

“The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” 
– Eden Phillpotts

Every time we drive through Bilpin along Bells Line of Road, we stop at one of the roadside shops that sell local fruit and veg. And in autumn it’s all about apples. And the apple pies. But since we’ve both gone gluten free, apple pie from Bilpin is now out of the question. Which only leaves us one option – buy apples and make your own pie. Or even better – pick them yourself! Not sure why I didn’t think of this before? Year after year, we kept driving past the orchards, never stopping anywhere except for a couple of familiar fruit shops to buy apples, honey, maybe some chestnuts (I still haven’t figured out what to do with those by the way), and to grab a quick coffee. Until now.

As we were walking up and down the hill through the orchard, buckets in hand, as we were picking the ripe, beautiful apples off the branches and biting into crunchy goodness, I thought – it’s so easy to be happy. All these little things  hardly cost anything but make our hearts swell. Like a heavy, juicy apple, warm under the autumn sun, just hanging off a branch, almost ready to fall on soft grass.

And since it’s the last day of the month, there is a self-portrait among these images. Nothing fancy, just a snap of my happy face, surrounded by apple tree leaves.

Abundance is all around us.