Apples

Apples, A Love Story

I looked it up online and I found lists containing anywhere between 16 to 22 or more idioms with apples in the English language. OMG! What’s them apples about anyhow?

Then I decided to look up recipes and there again the sheer quantity of meals, cakes, shakes, and everything in between is mind-boggling. What’s up with that? We do say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but these equal thousands, millions of them.

Have you seen how many paintings have an apple in them? Not a pear, not a peach, but an apple. Other fruit sometimes show up in still-life paintings, but apples are ubiquitous… often held in a hand, hiding a face, on top of a head. They are joined by humans.

And let’s not forget: place names, like Almaty (city in Kazakhstan – translates to grandfather’s apple Alma-Ata) or nicknames, the Big Apple are only a few among many others.

Then there are products, a whole line of them that belong to Apple - the company. The fruit is so powerful that no other company has dared to use another fruit to name their thing, especially in the same industry.

And the apple is an important character in many mythical or foundational stories. Snow White and Eve are just two women’s stories that feature apples of discord or misfortune. Women are often depicted as falling to the apple's charms and in French, we say 'chanter la pomme', to sing the apple when a man is flirting with a woman.

For contrast, we can think of Johnny Appleseed, Sir Isaac Newton who dealt with apples of chance and luck. They are usually the masters of the fruit, and it has gifted them with insight and intuition.

Humans have fallen in love with apples. We don't exactly know when this happened or how, but this love has been a constant throughout the history of human migration. Its seeds are easy to carry and over time, so many varieties have shared their bounty with us, it is difficult to see human evolution without an apple somewhere. In a hand or a pocket... or maybe even a tummy.

Born in the steppes of Central Asia, the apple has been disseminated and grown in every region of this beautiful planet. It has fed countless individuals and has become a metaphor and symbol for plenty; plenty of health, fertility, discord, luck.

It has been a steadfast partner in the discovery of new flavor pairings, and has offered its sweetness or tartness, its crispness or softness to our plates on more occasions than can be counted on a multitude of fingers, toes, hands, or feet. It has allowed us to julienne it, slice it, cook it, bake it, eat it raw, juice it, sauce it, or any other idea you may have had.

Whatever it may be, destiny has forged our love of the apple into every aspect of our lives. There is at least one type of apple, organic or technological, in every home today.

Every table or every hand is currently holding or watching an apple of some form, reading about the love affair humans have shared with apples since so long ago that we have forgotten where it began.

Once upon a time, long, long ago .... there was an apple tree beckoning the inhabitants to taste its fruit and share in its bounty. Squirrels, worms, and humans heard its call and answered.

Apples, A Love Story