Since you brought up Apples, Gordon.....

Thanks Gordon and Julie.... Those are wonderfully warm stories... I feel as if I'm really there with you, picking those delicious apples, baking those fritters -- and eating them!

The closest thing I can remember comes from my childhood.... My parents house was in front of Dandenong creek...

(For those who are wondering, "Dandenong" comes from an Australian Aboriginal word....)

Around that creek was a lot of bush land, semi-wild growth....

Back then, surrounding much of the native foliage were many blackberry bushes....

As a 10 or 11-year old, the bush area around the creek was my place for new discoveries, where I went to go on my adventures....

Sometimes I would see a flash of white or brown -- a rabbit darting into the undergrowth....

Sometimes I'd spot an unusual bird, and sit watching it from a distance....

And sometimes I'd stumble across a previously unexplored path, and I'd follow it to see where it led to....

And if I was very lucky, I could surprise myself by coming face to face with a possum....

The blackberry bushes were one of the challenges. They were covered in thorns, so you had to be very careful.... I often came back from my adventures with cuts and scratches....

But on the other hand, on those thorny vines you'd find the juicy ripe blackberries.... When we could pick them we'd have a delicious treat!

A few years after we moved to that area, the blackberry bushes started dying.... They are actually a "weed" in Australia, an introduced species.... I think that Australian scientists must have introduced some new disease which killed off the blackberry bushes....

But at least I still had a few years of discovery, combined with eating some delicious blackberries....

The cuts and scratches were worth it!

Mmmmm.... I can taste them now.... :)

Dien