There’s a change in the air in Sanpete. It’s not hard to detect. Autumn began a week or so ago. Mother Nature has been gradually turning down the thermostat on our outdoor living.

Sanpeters who are on the ball are doing their fall work in their yards and gardens. I often wait until spring to do the fall work. That way I kill two birds with one stone.

That waiting though is not by design. It’s procrastination. (I’m going to take care of my procrastination issues, just you wait and see!) (Someone gave me a sign with that message on it which I proudly display.)

There is wisdom in getting things done when they’re supposed to be done. For example, it’s not a good idea to pick the autumn apples in the spring. But on the other hand, by not picking the apples, you provide the winter birds and deer with something to eat.

We’ve been picking apples and pears the past few days. The pear tree was loaded this year. The apple trees weren’t as productive.

We have three apple trees. The lowest hanging fruit always gets picked early from one tree. That tree is near a public sidewalk and as people walk by, many help themselves.

It doesn’t bother me as much as it used to. I’ve become accustomed to people having the attitude that the apples are there for the taking. But it sometimes reminds me of a couple of stories from church I heard as a kid. The stories were about honesty and apples.

One story was about the boy who was selling apples. He put them in boxes and put them on display for sale. He put bad apples at the bottom of the box and the really good apples on the top layer.

People would see the high quality apples on top and assume that all the apples in the box would be like that. The boy got caught in his deceptive sales technique and had to learn his lesson. We learned the lesson from the story that it’s not honest to do things like that. It’s a form of not telling the truth.

The other story goes along with my apple tree situation. Three or four boys were walking home from school. There were some nice looking apples on a tree on the other side of a fence.

Some boys crossed the fence and took apples without the owner’s permission. One went to the door of the owner and asked if he could have an apple. The owner was nice and said that he could go get an apple.

The story taught one of the Ten Commandments from the Bible: “Thou shalt not steal.” As I recall, in the story, the “apple stealers” ended up going to the owner and asking forgiveness for their crime. They learned the good feeling of being forgiven and doing things the right way.

Interestingly, some years ago, I had a Hispanic man come to the door and ask if he could have a few apples off the tree near the sidewalk. I told him that it was fine and to go ahead and take some. I also gave him a compliment.

“Thank you for asking, most people don’t ask.”

He replied with a little bit of surprise,

“Why wouldn’t they ask? They’re your apples.”

The logic of his answer was impeccable. I hesitated to include the fact that he was Hispanic. That’s probably not relevant to the story. But then again, I don’t know — maybe it is.

He is one of the very, very few people over the years who have asked for an apple. People normally only ask when they want a large quantity or the whole crop.

I don’t know why, but I often end up picking apples at night in the dark. (I actually do know why. See my reference to procrastination near the top of this column.) It’s a much more exciting experience to pick apples in the dark. A wobbly ladder and the cold night air make it even better. The death defying, risk taking aspects of harvesting apples this way is more soul satisfying than doing it in a normal and safe way.

I’m gradually trying to change my risk-taking ways when it comes to ladders, trees, roofs, and attempting to do things in the dark. I have pretty much lost interest in hobbies and activities that have a significant risk of death involved. (Other than taking rides in the car)

Back to apples. My wife is especially interested in the apples off the Winesap variety of apple tree in our backyard. She has a great recipe and likes to make apple pie filling from those apples. She is deservedly famous in our circle of family and friends for her wonderful pie making skills.

There are more apple stories to tell. But I’ll save them for another time. I suspect that many of you Sanpeters have apples that you’ve picked from your trees and have stories to tell as well.

My recommendation is that now is a great time for making caramel apples, apple pies, apple crisps, apple cider, and apple everything else. I’m loving having sliced apples with peanut butter as a snack these days.

If you have extra apples to share, give a few to someone in your neighborhood. An even better idea: Make them a pie. — Merrill

P.S. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but only if you’re a good shot!

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