Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms in Hopewell's Orchard - Photo credit: NPS/A. Kane.

"It is remarkable how closely the history of the Apple-tree is connected with that of man. The geologist tells us that the order of the Rosaceæ, which includes the Apple, also the true Grasses, and the Labiatæ, or Mints, were introduced only a short time previous to the appearance of man on the globe.

...Pliny, adopting the distinction of Theophrastus, says, “Of trees there are some which are altogether wild, some more civilized.” Theophrastus includes the apple among the last; and, indeed, it is in this sense the most civilized of all trees. It is as harmless as a dove, as beautiful as a rose, and as valuable as flocks and herds. It has been longer cultivated than any other, and so is more humanized; and who knows but, like the dog, it will at length be no longer traceable to its wild original? It migrates with man, like the dog and horse and cow; first, perchance, from Greece to Italy, thence to England, thence to America; and our Western emigrant is still marching steadily toward the setting sun with the seeds of the apple in his pocket, or perhaps a few young trees strapped to his load.

...Men could afford then to stick a tree by every wall-side and let it take its chance. I see nobody planting trees to-day in such out-of-the-way places, along the lonely roads and lanes, and at the bottom of dells in the wood. Now that they have grafted trees, and pay a price for them, they collect them into a plat by their houses, and fence them in,—and the end of it all will be that we shall be compelled to look for our apples in a barrel."

- Via the entertaining 1862 essay, Wild Apples, by American naturalist, Henry David Thoreau, available for free on Project Guttenberg. Note his Venus/Aphrodite-related description of the apple tree: "It is as harmless as a dove, as beautiful as a rose..." * Biologically, the apple and the rose belong to the same family.**

Interestingly, in our eventual (future) back yard, we had a small apple tree which grew close by a wild rose bush with small clusters of blossoms, resembling those of the apple tree. The apple tree eventually withered, but the rosebush retained an apple-like fragrance.

Thoreau concludes his essay with the biblical quote (JOEL, Chapter I, Verse 12): “The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.”

"But the first verdict seemed the worst verdict

When Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden;

Yet when the bitter gates clanged to

The sky beyond was just as blue.

For the next ocean is the first ocean

And the last ocean is the first ocean

And, however often the sun may rise,

A new thing dawns upon our eyes.

For the last blossom is the first blossom

And the first blossom is the best blossom

And when from Eden we take our way

The morning after is the first day."

- An excerpt from the poem Apple Blossom, by Belfast poet, Louis MacNeice. For another poem by MacNeice, see my latest post on PMB, A Lost History Retrieved.

***

I'm not a terribly nostalgic person, but as the years go by, holidays are increasingly becoming "remembered" things... belonging to experiences in the past-tense; belonging to childhood only; a time of wonder.

My earliest memory of Easter is posing with my little brother in front of an immense apple tree, one of two, in our - or, rather, the landlord's - backyard, while my dad snapped B/W photographs of us decked out in our annual Easter outfits. We both wore coats or jackets and "bonnets"; spring was very chilly in New England in those days. My coat had a lavender and white checkered pattern. My brother's jacket had a black and white pattern known as houndstooth.

Funny, the things you remember... while the rest you'd' rather forget. But, today I will go no further down memory lane beyond the grandeur of those two immense apple trees in the landlord's backyard, the like of which I'll probably never see again. The like of which only a few of us will ever see at all. Privilege is a relative thing.

The apple tree is an icon; it is also a meme and/or an element of a meme. It speaks of the beginning of new things and the continuous cycles of life - a "tree of life" - and the processes of growth. On an apparent (logical) level, living things grow and eventually decay. But, on a mythical (mythos) level, the life force is in perpetual expression; it can be transformed or modified, but never annihilated.

But, I am no sage. I merely observe.

And, what I presently observe is that it's a rabbit, egg and apple sort of holiday for some of us - even if only in memory. And, yet, at its core (pun intended) it is a celebration of spring and a renewal of vitality.

Coincidentally, it just happens to be a beautiful spring day in NM. I hope it is wherever you are, too.

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* "Harmless as a dove" is not an exactly an accurate phrase and, as a naturalist, Thoreau would've known this. He was quite possibly referring to domesticated doves, which we might expect to be more submissive. Wild doves, however, in spite of their elegant appearance, will gladly take out any creature threatening their nests. I once saw a mourning dove throttle a blue jay - a more belligerent bird - holding it by it's neck.

** Cherries are also part of the Rosaceae family... and, like the apple and the rose, are celebrated with parades and festivals in the states and abroad.

*** My original statement here was, for the most part, unintelligible. I must've dropped the thread and then, unsuccessfully, attempted to patch it up. I've since revised the statement, but, I'm afraid the original "thread" was lost. And, it's probably just as well!