Woodpeckers and Apples

"a tree...

that brings forth fruit

it its season"

Psalm 1:3

It's Spring in Southern California.  Which means it was over 90º a week ago, and is forecast to be 64º tomorrow.  Variety is the spice of life, right?

The other day, while we were out in the backyard appreciating our woodpecker, who had come to visit, my daughter pointed all the apples starting to appear on our tree.  Two more signs of Spring. 

I know on most apple trees, the emergence of apples would not signify Spring, but on our tree, that's how it works.  We get our apples in the hottest part of summer.  Weird.

Anyhow, here come the apples.  And there appear to be a lot of them this year.  We just never know from year to year how many to expect.  Most years, our crop is just the right amount for us to have a constant supply of apples, homemade apple sauce, and fresh apple juice for a few months. 

But some years we have more apples than we can handle.  This results in a mess in our yard, because many of them are too high for us to reach, even with the long-handled picker.  So they hang there in the sun until they bake, and then they hit the ground with a splat.  Messy.

A few years ago, we barely had any crop at all.  We do nothing to help the tree, and never have, so I don't know what was different that year.  I do know that I had friends whose fruit trees also gave noticeably less that year, so maybe it was a rain thing, or a pollen thing.  I don't know.  It's embarrassing how little I know about plants and trees.

Seasons are different, sometimes with no explanation.  I'm comforted by that knowledge.  It reminds me that when I'm in a less-than-productive season, it's okay.  It happens.  Sometimes I can pinpoint the reason (like not enough rain); other times I can't.  The good news is it doesn't mean I'm not still growing.  And seasons of amazing fruitfulness are ahead!

~ "Blessed is the man...

whose delight is in the law of the Lord...

He shall be like a tree

planted by the rivers of water,

that brings forth its fruit in its season,

whose leaf also shall not wither" ~

Psalm 1:1,2,3

~