Autumn means making time for apples, great egrets

There are so many things I feel I must accomplish in the autumn, and there’s so little time to get them all done.

One of those tasks is to go to an orchard and pick a good supply of apples so I can have apple crisp when the snow flies.

The other day I called my friend the apple grower to set up a date for picking, and he told me I was fortunate to have any apples to pick.

The reason I will have apples this winter is because he adheres to the old adage “never put all your eggs in one basket.”

My friend has two plots of ground separated by a short drive where he planted his apple trees. One is near Johnstown and the other is along Morse Road in Licking County.

This summer, a violent storm with hail larger than quarters hit his orchard near Johnstown.

The hail knocked large chunks out of his developing apples, and the only good he got out of the ruined crop was to make cider out of some of the apples.

However, his other orchards were spared any damage.

Therefore, my wife and I will be headed there later this month to pick a variety called Ever Crisp that will keep all winter or longer if kept refrigerated.

The reason I must pick apples in the fall is because it makes me feel like I am taking part in the harvest. I know I am pretending, but that’s OK because I will be rewarded with apple crisp this winter.

Another task I must do this autumn is to go out in the countryside and visit with some of my favorite critters before they leave for warmer climes.

I recently wrote about watching monarch butterflies pausing to collect nectar on New England asters during their migration.

Last week, I spent some time with great egrets, which are my favorite birds or close to the top of my list of favorite birds.

Those 3 ½ -foot-tall, all-white birds are so exoticlooking that when I see one, my mind is momentarily transported to some imaginary tropical paradise.

I have been going to a place called Twin Lakes in Delaware County where a number of great egrets hang out.

They were all busy catching and eating fish, probably fueling up for their long journey south. They will all be gone this month, and I will miss them.

But do you know what? When I see my first great egret next spring, amid the redbuds and dogwoods, that particular spot will suddenly be changed into a tropical paradise.