Dodo Eggs

 

Guess which apple was grown in Hollywood.

Once upon a time, there was a small apple orchard tucked into one of the Cascades many valleys.  Like a blue silk ribbon this mountain stream meandered through the valley and orchard before finding its way to the Pacific.  It gave fresh, pure water to the trees allowing them to produce the best apples in the world.

An old wooden home sits on a grassy rise and overlooks the rest of the orchard.  An old farmer and his sons live there just as previous generations of their family have done.  They tend to the trees as if each was a spoiled child. 

But no tree received the attention that was shown to a tree the farmers called Grande.  Grande was the largest and greatest tree in the entire orchard.  It grew the juiciest and crunchiest apples that could be found in all of Washington State. The farmer and his boys love this particular tree, and give it the best care they possibly can. 

At the top of Grande was an apple that was grand in size and shape.  It was a prize even among Grande’s other apples.  It grew near the very top branch with a perfect view of the entire valley.  Every other apple knew that the farmer would save this special apple for himself.  Most apples would be more than content to be the greatest apple on the best tree in the entire state but not this one.   Every day near sunset this apple would look out upon the rest of the trees and see nothing but other apples. 

Despite being so well grown and so highly admired, it was unhappy being one of so many.  It would ask, “What makes me different from the other apples out there?  How can I make myself truly stand out?”

One day troubling news was received from the other orchards.  An outbreak of worms was slowly making it way across Washington ruining apple crops along the way.  All treatments had been used but nothing seemed to halt the march of these pests.

When the worms finally reached the edge of the farmer’s orchard, they caught sight of the huge apple perched on the top of Grande, and they decided to make their way straight for that wonderful apple.  The farmer and his sons worked tirelessly to stop them, but to little gain.  Until a robin that had yet to travel south visited the orchard looking for work.

As the evil worms reached the edge of Grande the hungry robin quickly devoured them.  The robin was able to protect Grande for only a short while before the number of worms became too many for the now fat robin to handle.

The worms knew that the robin would be unable to stop them for long.  In droves, they began inching their way up Grande’s trunk in an effort to reach the finest apples in the world.  They especially wanted the discontent apple at the top.

Finally, the grand apple looked down and saw the horde coming for him but it didn’t despair.  Instead it saw this as an opportunity to make a change.  The apple decided that the pesky worms would not eat something that was different from the other apples.  So after a great deal of effort, it shifted its bulk from the upper to its lower half, changed its shiny red skin to a dingy yellow, and turned from being hard and crunchy to soft and mushy. 

When the apple looked upon its new body, it became overjoyed at finally being unique.  The other apples, however, looked at him with horror and disgust until the worms making their way up retook their attention.

By the time the hungry worms reached their goal, the apple was not an apple anymore.  The worms stared in disbelief for quite some time, and finally decided to go after better pickings.

But the worms had dallied too long.  The robin returned with all his hungry robin friends, and made short work of the nasty horde of worms.  From that day on, the robins stood guard over the farmer’s once again beautiful orchard and the farmer built special birdhouses to allow the robins to stay all year.

While the farmer and the robins were content, the story for our clever apple had just begun.  When harvest time came along, the farmer’s boys found him nestled among a few leaves at the tip of Grande’s highest branch.  They stared in wonder at the strange new fruit, and decided to take a small bite.  What they experienced tickled their tastes so much they rushed him to their father.  He agreed that the strange fruit was delicious.  The farmer then instructed his sons to plant him near Grande, and to take special care of their new discovery.

With the passage of time a large, strong tree grew up beside Grande.  This tree was different because of its unique yellow fruit, which the farmer called papple.  As this new treat grew more and more popular, it became known as the pear, even to this day.

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