Apples: A Second Glance by Chipka
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Description
The scents of Autum have vanished.
The snows have come, though—as before—the air is acrid and crisp with the layered scents of smoke: different smokes from a multitude of chimneys. They all speak of warmth, however, of comfortable seats in front of fireplaces. They announce the presence of what restaurants remain open, of what houses remain closed to all but those who live in them.
There are still apples, too few for picking, and because the frosts have come, because they have frozen, their tissues will surely soften to mush and rot when temperatures rise enough to melt the ice that they have become. Of course, there is no tragedy in this; they are fertilizer for next year's growth, sweet food for next year's worms, fungi and flies.
The apples that I'd picked with a friend have been peeled and boiled...boiled and simmered with sugar and spices as brown as mahogany. They have been rendered into a thick, dark cousin to applesauce and eaten as a spread on fresh bread, its outer skin, dusted with flour.
Next year, there will be hard and gnarled apples; some more sour than others.
They will rot and mottle; they will fall.
Someone may render them into applesauce. Or not.
But at any rate, there will be apples, as there have always been since their trees were first planted for a long-vanished king.
****
I'd intended to post this image a bit earlier, but I got sidetracked. As always, thank you for you for viewing and reading and commenting on my past works as well as this one, and hopefully everyone is having a great week on its slow build-up to Thanksgiving for those who celebrate it.
Comments (34)
texboy
Well, it's a real winner, Chip, one to be proud of; good words, too!!
Prematos
What a great Composition, brilliant.
durleybeachbum
Stunning!
MrsLubner
Gorgeous work. So very warm and alluring. Stunning work.
MagikUnicorn
Beautiful we love apple in Canada :)
Meisiekind
Wonderful image and narrative as always... Love it! :)
claude19
SPLENDID impressionist "Dead Nature" !!!
Janiss
Oh it's gorgeous gorgeous... bravo Chip... I adore!
Enlightened
Superb lighting and photo - I love the warm rich colours.
flyairth
Spectacular as always!!
photostar
Excellent looking still life, Chip. Your narrative has made me hungry for some Apple Butter on a few slices of bread. And made even better with some smooth cottage cheese or lumpy, for that matter, on the other piece of bread to create a sandwich. Yummy!!!!!!!!
Meowgli
beautiful warm glow, excellent work!
Amosicho
Wonderful image
Fidelity2
Perfect!!! All the way too. 5+!
jccj56
Awesome Image!!
ladyraven23452
well done my freand keep it up i know ill see you in a store someday.
StandsInAwe
Marvelous compo!
MrsRatbag
A beautiful image; I want to reach out and touch them, they look so warm and smooth...awesome work!
Lunastar
great image
auntietk
Wonderful photo - the light is just yummy. Beautiful!
beachzz
I pruned the heck out of my apple trees last winter, and have had so few this year. I miss them, and this just makes me miss them even more!!
anahata.c
(My browser keeps shutting down—sorry for the 3 tries!) I just read "Solo," and now this, and you've built a wonderful series on apples...Like I said there, In pieces like this, you're taking us on a quiet stroll, sharing your innermost musings...I love the feel of it, hearing your inner thoughts as if you're talking to us one-on-one. I relate to the smoke & odors of encroaching cold; and the sense of restaurants too...and to our senses being awakened by apples & sauces & juices and other 'apple-y' things which are so evocative of fall in cold climates. And of course, to one of your common themes—i.e., how always-present nature takes-over the fruit until it becomes part of the world around it. You wove that into your thoughts very gently. And I was struck with your ending—i.e., that the apple trees were planted for some long-lost king: I know you that you may have been literal here, but knowing your inner tapestry it could also be metaphorical—as if the apple loomed out of a mythic unreachable past, where we don't know who that king was but we know he has something to do with beginnings & mythic mystery...A very enticing musing all around—and with another of your warm & glowing apple photos, awash in reds & browns: It's a golden picture & it calls us back. (I agree with Marilyn, reading this makes us miss those apples. Hey, it's 3 in the morning here—what, I'm gonna eat an apple now??? I should read your pieces later in the day!) Wonderful work, Chip. A fav, for this & for the whole series. Delectable.
Geoaskier
Wonderful to shoot a different stage of apples ...most capture the perfect looking part of an apples cycle....this captures the culinary beauty that apples bless us along with the thought of how important they are in the eco....as usually your writings about them is delightful.
romanceworks
You have captured the cycle of life so beautifully in your image and words. The spots on those apples reminds me of the spots on an aging person, markings of time, and certainly the old are as important to our world as the fresh and new. CC
kasalin
Very beautiful creation, dear Chip!!! Vote:5*** Excellent !!! Hugs :):):)
smillinfaces
nothin more then beautiful
hipps13
wonderful capture and words caught my attention warm hug, Linda
jeroni
Awesome Image
Mousson
WOWWWWWWWWWWW
KatesFriend
I remember that we had a quince tree out front of our house growing up. Not much good for eating but they fell in autumn and turned colours such as this. Then of coarse, they went the way of all organic matter. No doubt proving the winter feast for the local ant colonies.