How About Them Apples! Thoughts on Family.

Yesterday we went out to my cousins house for a family get-together.  His property is a 10 acre wooded area with outstanding views and privacy.  We went to help make apple juice, an annual get together that he has.  He has a neat apple press made in Elmira, Oregon and had (3) 1,000 pound pallets of jonagold apples that he got from a friend in Hood River.   

We had a good system going where a couple of guys would cut the apples in half, two others would feed the grinder and we took turns on the manual (screw) press.  When one bucket of apples was pressed, we switched it out with the bucket from the grinder, and kept going continuously that way for hours.  We spent the better part of 4 hours running the process, and only finished off 1 of the 3 pallets, and a little bit of the second one.  That’s a lot of apples!  I personally ate 3, and drank quite a lot of juice… good stuff.  We had a huge bag of empty gallon jugs that must have come from some supply store.  Last year over 150 gallons of juice was made, and we were on pace for that again this year.

We put the dried up, pressed apple waste into my cousins tractor scoop, and when it was full, my son Alex and I went for a tractor ride to go dump the stuff on the other side of the property.  The deer will surely have a good supply to munch on.  Alex loved the ride and I enjoyed the break from turning the press.

While the guys were out making the juice, my wife and kids were inside visiting and playing with their cousins, making home-made chilli and having a good time.  I always enjoy getting together with this side of my family.  The people are all interesting, successful and “real.” 

It’s really neat to see the young kids all around each other, the next generation.  I have good memories of getting together with these same people for Christmas and Thanksgiving when I was a kid.  We would spend the day playing football or riding dirt bikes or playing basketball.  We all got along well, and still do.  There is quite a variety of people (from varied professions) as well, which always makes for good stories and conversation.  It amazes me to see many of these people with children, and some whose children HAVE children!  I remember some of my cousins when they were babies, and now they are graduating from college and having families of their own.  These kids that I used to help take care of are now Moms and Dads themselves.  I’m only 38 years old.  I FEEL like I’m still 20.  (other than the nagging pain in my left foot, my bad wrist and my creaking bones when I get up in the morning!) 

I hope you have some family that you care about to get together with this year at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Don’t take the special people in your life for granted… relationships are golden.

Tags: , apple juice, apple press, chilli, dad, dads, elmira, hood river, jonagold apples, moms, parenting, parents