Apples and Peaches

Much of the time I am content.  Most of my needs are met; I am working on the wants.  Some of the peace comes from knowing my calling; some from my minimal knowledge of God, reike and tai chi. Some of it is from my family and friends.  Some peace comes with a thunderstorm, a paycheck, a new piece of jewelry or a Klondike bar.

Those times I am discontented it is out of frustration.  There are things I want but cannot have, at least not now.  There is so much to do that I get overwhelmed and feel myself shutting down.  I sense reality creeping into my dreams and I don't like having to acknowledge it.

It's kind of like munching a Gala apple.  It is crisp, sweet but not cloying; it's juicy, but not so much that it runs down your hands. The crunch is satisfying for the most part, but it isn't what you want this time.  This time, at this moment, you want a peach--a perfectly ripe one.

As you take another bite of the Gala, you imagine how good that peach would taste. The flesh of it is just soft enough. The juice drips down your chin.  It is exactly what you  hunger for....until you get close to the pit and see the little white half of a worm that got to your precious fruit first. Reality has crept in. That peach looked flawless--until you got too close to the insides.

So it is with life.  The day-to-day is filling, satisfying, sometimes boring. Sometimes we have one too many apples.  They become a lunch box staple. We don't even notice them after awhile.  We automatically reach for the Galas or Fujis. They're not expensive, they're sturdy.  The peach--be it a different job, a new home, a new car, a trip to Las Vegas--looks so delicious, and in season for such a short time. We don't look at the price, or if we do, we brush it off because it's a special treat.
Think  about peaches--the fruit, not the euphemism.  If you buy them unripened it is days before they are ready. If you don't eat them right away, they turn mushy, brown, finally moldy. You attract fruit flies. The life of an apple is so much longer! And if they get a bit past their prime, there is always applesauce or apple butter.

And yet, I adore peaches. Albertas are my favorite, but red havens and clings will suffice. Their cousins, the nectarines, are often even better.

I guess the moral is (I often have one. Have you noticed that?) that we should taste the peach in its season--and the cherries and plums, too.  Try things; experience what life has to offer. Just remember that old stand-by, the apple. It can take being tossed into the lunch box, survive winter storage and is a nice gift for a teacher.

The peach may look like the perfect fruit...but be sure you check for worms.