Ignoring Apples Brittany Adam

St. Augustine tells us, "It is not true to say that a thing rightly done once should not be changed." I know this is true because of my experience with my grandfather's failing health. My grandfather, Sinclair Adam, is a gentleman farmer in Chester County, Pennsylvania. In the fall, he harvests apples, which he offers to friends and neighbors, even my family in California. Every tree in the orchard bears a different variety of apple - winesaps, Johnathans, macouns, grimes, northern spys, romes, granny smiths - and our box contains a sampling with the lid labeled like a box of chocolates. In the spring he devotes himself to the trees; he prunes, chops, plants, cuts, thins, and sprays meticulously, knowing he will reap the rewards of a gorgeous and plentiful fall harvest. Last year, however, we received our annual box of the apples that he had picked and so meticulously wrapped filled with fruit that was disappointing, smaller, dryer, and more blemished than usual. We overlooked the flaws because we remembered that my grandfather's heart surgery in the spring must have prevented him from properly caring for the trees he prized so much. Under the circumstances, I chose to ignore the signs of failing health and...