The Lord is good to me,
and so I thank the Lord,
for giving me the things I need:
the sun and the rain
and the apple seeds.
The Lord is good to me.
Johnny Appleseed's Prayer
Origin unknown to Me
I have begun Sterling on a word book. It claims to be an alphabet book for babies, so the first picture is an apple. We start at the beginning each time. Familiarity is increasing his stamina, so now we can get about halfway through.
The neighbors have apple trees. They are not pruned. They are not picked. The branches extend several feet into our property, fruit falls thickly in our grass, and one has espaliered itself down our side of the fence. The children joyously pick and eat these apples. I picked and washed a small apple for Sterling, who thought it the funniest, most exciting thing when I called it "apple." He Who Must Now Hold the Feeding Spoon would not accept applesauce this morning, but was vigorously attempting to ingest this fist sized morsel. Okay, so it only lasted for a few minutes.
Now I present my moral dilemma: is it okay to pick the neighbor's apples that grow on our side of the fence? Do I:
A: forbid children from touching and severely prune off the disputable branches?
B: do I look the other way while the children eat all they can reach?
C: do I walk halfway around the block to spend twenty minutes discussing this with said neighbor, while my children run in the street?
D: rejoice in the manna from heaven and make apple betty for Mom's Movie Night?
