Concerning the title, it was a saying I heard my dad use a lot as a kid, but never quite figured out what it meant. I know it was a line in the movie Goodwill Hunting. I’ve also read in several places that the original “apple” was a mortar-fired bomb used during WWI.
However, that is not the point. What I want to talk about today is actual apples. Or more like, the part of the apple that I hated the most – the core.
Mom and Si-Mack have this rather strange way of eating an apple…the whole thing. Including the core. They would eat around the fruit like a normal person, then proceed to eat whatever remained.
Every time I saw them bite off the top half of the apple’s skeleton and start crunching away at the gristle and seeds, I was tempted to hurl. Shivers would ripple across my skin. I would even have to LEAVE THE ROOM!
I have made a sort of vow that once I leave the country, I will at least try everything that is offered to me. Within reason, of course (I will not eat human!). But if someone hands me a big bowl of monkey brains, I have to take a minimum of one bite.
This morning it dawned on me that I would never be able to taste fricasseed horse if I can’t even manage something as benign as an apple core! So, driving home from work, I worked up my courage. After finishing what I’d traditionally eat, I took a deep breath and chomped off half of the center. It was not as bad as I’d thought it would be. In fact, it was actually pretty good.
I now stand before you a more confident woman. I shall be eating many more apple cores in my life. I am no longer afraid of fruit.
Until next time,
Savy
Enemy vanquished.
The Patterbunch 