I am sorry to read that more and more, schools are putting a negative spin on Columbus Day. In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue as a means of making a living, since crowned heads wanted to expand their empires - that is true. But it also took a brave soul to venture forth into territories that previously on maps of the day were marked "Here be dragons" as the cartographers just did not know what to do with those areas.
Besides, as we were taught at St. Brendan's School, the REAL discoverer of the Americas was St. brendan himself, sailing here with his fellow Irish monks in the 6th century, but perhaps I am, as an Irish-American, biased.
*ahem*
Nevertheless, Columbus Day always held a special place for me, and not simply because it was a day off from school. When I was a wee one growing up in the Bronx, the Columbus Day weekend was spent upstate, in towns like Claverack, NY and Copake, NY, for the purpose of apple picking. We had a "cold cellar" in our basement, where bushels of apples would be kept after these excursions. I do not know if they still exist, but the countryside around those towns would be dotted with "Pick Your Own" orchards, where you paid a fixed price by the bushel but went off into the orchards to climb trees and have your own harvest.
What absolute fun! My extended family got into this and we had a splendid time. As a child, I found the different varieties of apples to be exotic: Rome, Macintosh, Winesap, Granny Smith. The adults were the ones to climb into the upper branches, misguided by the belief that "the best" were to be found there, where they should have probably let us younger and more limber ones ascend the heights. This was proven one year when my mother shouted down, "I found a good one!" and her brother, Michael, said, "Throw it down, Dottie!" She did - and knocked him out of lower branches, causing him to break his arm. I remember more vividly the dinner we had in Copake after we all trooped off to the local doctor so my uncle's arm could be set.
There were other things we bought as well - pumpkins (we never carved ours for Halloween as Grandma would use the flesh for the Thanksgiving pies) and what we called "Indian corn," the dark, inedible stalks to use for home decorations for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. We also dropped by the Eggsteins, a farm run by an old German couple, for their fresh honey. And the menfolk would go "behind the barn" with the orchard proprietor to buy hard cider, which we kids were not allowed to have. My uncle had a summer home in Copake where we stayed, and I remember Mom bringing up huge pots of her "gravy" and meatballs, so we could have a hearty dinner after spending the day in the chilly fall weather, working hard at our apple picking.
Enjoy your Columbus Day. Glad I have these memories to share.
Besides, as we were taught at St. Brendan's School, the REAL discoverer of the Americas was St. brendan himself, sailing here with his fellow Irish monks in the 6th century, but perhaps I am, as an Irish-American, biased.
*ahem*
Nevertheless, Columbus Day always held a special place for me, and not simply because it was a day off from school. When I was a wee one growing up in the Bronx, the Columbus Day weekend was spent upstate, in towns like Claverack, NY and Copake, NY, for the purpose of apple picking. We had a "cold cellar" in our basement, where bushels of apples would be kept after these excursions. I do not know if they still exist, but the countryside around those towns would be dotted with "Pick Your Own" orchards, where you paid a fixed price by the bushel but went off into the orchards to climb trees and have your own harvest.
What absolute fun! My extended family got into this and we had a splendid time. As a child, I found the different varieties of apples to be exotic: Rome, Macintosh, Winesap, Granny Smith. The adults were the ones to climb into the upper branches, misguided by the belief that "the best" were to be found there, where they should have probably let us younger and more limber ones ascend the heights. This was proven one year when my mother shouted down, "I found a good one!" and her brother, Michael, said, "Throw it down, Dottie!" She did - and knocked him out of lower branches, causing him to break his arm. I remember more vividly the dinner we had in Copake after we all trooped off to the local doctor so my uncle's arm could be set.
There were other things we bought as well - pumpkins (we never carved ours for Halloween as Grandma would use the flesh for the Thanksgiving pies) and what we called "Indian corn," the dark, inedible stalks to use for home decorations for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. We also dropped by the Eggsteins, a farm run by an old German couple, for their fresh honey. And the menfolk would go "behind the barn" with the orchard proprietor to buy hard cider, which we kids were not allowed to have. My uncle had a summer home in Copake where we stayed, and I remember Mom bringing up huge pots of her "gravy" and meatballs, so we could have a hearty dinner after spending the day in the chilly fall weather, working hard at our apple picking.
Enjoy your Columbus Day. Glad I have these memories to share.
4 comments:
No more Columbus Day in the City of Phoenix. It is no longer a city holiday, instead they have replaced it with Cesar Chavez day in March.
Viva Mexico.
Digi - TUA turned me on to Riley's Farm, where you can still pick your own berries, apples, pears, etc.
Sounds like a Girl Day Trip to me..
Snata Maria de Immaculada Concepcion...A great ship name..., a great Catholic, a blessed Columbus Day
What beautiful memories.
Happy Columbus Day.
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