I was thinking about apples.

We were in the grocery store, and I was watching my wife choose an apple. There were many varieties, over thirty named types. It was that kind of grocery store.

As I watched, I thought, “What do you think about when you think about apples?”

The first answer was: “catchy phrases.” The phrase that jumped to mind is: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” It is another one of those idioms. The words do not mean that a fresh apple placed on the doorstep will scare away doctors in the manner that garlic is supposed to scare away vampires. Heaven forbid. It means that if you eat healthy foods (represented by a bright red apple), your body will be healthier and you will not need to visit the doctor as often – which is why that wizened witch hid the poison in the apple her gnarled hand presented to Snow White. An apple is a good, attractive and inviting thing. For sure, discretion is advised when considering a gift from a stranger, especially a witch or a talking snake; but, as a general rule, the apple is a healthy food, and healthy foods can contribute to a better and improved life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As more catchy apple phrases raced through my head, they were stopped in their tracks by a loud ringing sound. The source of that ringing is the second apple thing. You see my cell phone is an Apple. That’s a big “A” for Apple, Inc., one of biggest and most successful companies in the world. Apple makes, distributes, promotes and sells cells, pads, laps and pc’s, all with its distinctive Apple logo.

 

Here is a picture of the “Apple Logo.” Actually, you’ll just have to remember the shape or look at your own phone. Apple owns the mark and is very protective of its trade.

 

There is a third apple, I thought, “The Big Apple.” No, not the company, the town: New York, New York. New York City, aka, The Big Apple.

And when you’re talking about apples and how big they can grow and what a good job they can do making even the unsuspecting and unintending very healthy and wealthy, you naturally think of a very ordinary and extraordinary guy by the name of “Forrest Gump.” That was the 1995 Best Picture and Forrest, played by Tom Hanks, was the Best Actor of the Year. Hooray. From the movie, this is one of my favorite “Gump” talking’s: “Lieutenant Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company. So then I got a call from him, saying we don’t have to worry about money no more. And I said, that’s good! One less thing.” The company was, of course, Apple Computer, Inc., which later shortened its name to Apple, Inc., some kind of fruit company, which is the fourth apple I saw in my mind. By the way, it is estimated that Forrest and Lieutenant’s Dan’s investment in Apple would today be worth in the range of $7 billion. That is certainly one less thing to worry about.

Talking about worry brings me back around to the fifth thing I thought of when I saw my wife pick up an apple. You got it: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the Apple Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Remember the advice from above: “Discretion is advised when considering a gift from a stranger.” If only our first parents had seen the movie “Snow White.” In any event, that first apple was certainly an apple of impact. Admittedly, the pitch of the fork-tongued stranger was seductive. Nonetheless, I bet that apple was, in its own right, very attractive — if, under the circumstances, perhaps somewhat wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still, life may have been better afterward without that first bite.

Now, the apples are bagged, tied and we are on our way.

Apples find their way and are found in many places:

Catchy phrases, huge companies, big cities,

Famous movies, some very old stories.

But the best are always the ones

You pick from the shelf with

Out another’s tempting

Hand, crooked smile

Or slippery word.

I think the first

Bite is the

Best.

 

Grandpa Jim