“Apples Are Growing on My “Cherry” Tree” by Joan Y. Edwards

Carl and I moved into our house in Pineville, North Carolina in June 2005. A tree in our backyard only had small green fruit that looked like cherries. However, they were green and stayed green. For that reason, I thought perhaps it was an ornamental cherry tree.

Each year I checked and these tiny fruit never got bigger than my little fingernail. They never got ripe. That is until this year.

On Monday, June 18, 2012, I overheard our neighbor’s little girl, a third grader, ask her friend, “Can you get me the big one way up there?”

The biggest I had ever seen as I told you was only 1/4 of an inch in diameter. Not big in my mind. I watched to see what was going to happen. Her friend was on a bike. He reached way up high, and brought down a big green…

Hold it. Wait a minute. That can’t be. I looked again. Yep. For sure, in her hands was an apple about two inches around that he had picked from my “cherry” tree. Now that was a big surprise to me.

I remembered hearing that fruit trees take up to seven years before they bear fruit. So, indeed, it had been 7 years since we moved here. Isn’t that amazing?

The apple is exactly 2 inches in diameter. The size of a crab apple. If they get larger, they call them regular apples. The leaves alternate on the branch. Another sign that it might be a crab apple.

It almost looks like they planted two really close together. Perhaps to help cross pollinate them. The leaves alternate on opposite sides of the branches.

In other years, I never did a lot of research on the tree. I assumed it was an ornamental cherry tree that had little fruits that never got ripe and white blossoms. Funny about that.

I understand that crab apples make good jelly. Online it says that crab apples are different colors. I’ll watch and see if these stay green when they get ripe or change colors. It’s fun to watch the mystery unfold.

These things come to mind, “All that glitters is not gold.”

Hmm. Maybe a character you’ve created seemed like they always acted strictly by the book. However, when you started writing, this character was more interesting than you gave her credit. She almost stole the show from the main character. She blossomed right in front of you.

Perhaps you mistook a person for a friend. To you, he seemed like he was as sweet as a cherry, but it turned out that he was a real crab apple at times.

Readers like to watch the mystery unfold in stories, too. Enjoy the mysteries of your characters. Enjoy even more the mystery of your own life.

Write a funny story. It’s healing. Things don’t look so dark when you can laugh about it.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Please share a funny experience with me: joanyedwards1@gmail.com/

Never Give Up
Do something fun for you today!
Celebrate Each Step You Take

Joan Y. Edwards
Copyright © 2012-2022 Joan Y. Edwards

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