Apple Picking and Detours

If you’ve been following along on my Facebook and Instagram stories this past week, you know our family took a trip to Tennessee to experience the leaves changing for the first time.

The trip was absolutely incredible, and I plan to write more about enjoying nature’s beauty later this week.

But today’s post is brought to you by an apple-picking detour we took on our way home.

I’ve always wanted to go apple-picking. It seems like the seminal fall activity. But the only apple-picking Floridians experience involves the produce aisle at the grocery store. I thought for sure Tennessee would have plenty of u-pick places to choose from, but that wasn’t the case. My only hope for apples fresh from the tree was in a town about an hour off our planned route home.

My husband obliged and even encouraged me when I had second thoughts about taking any extra time on an already long drive home. The only u-pick location that allowed for weekday picking was BJ Reece’s Orchards, and since that was the goal, that’s where we ventured.

But oh, was it worth the detour. The scenery was picturesque. The apple harvest was plentiful. And watching my boys pluck fruit from a tree was too sweet to really put into the right words.

It all reminded me that much of the last two and a half years of my life have been one giant detour. Some of the detours I’ve embraced, and some I’ve fought bitterly against. But all have led to a richness that I otherwise wouldn’t have experienced:

• More compassion and sensitivity with myself and others navigating life’s big emotions.
• Extended time at home with my family redefining our values and soaking in our time together.
• Margin to care for my boys and this beautiful cottage while also chasing dreams.

Are you being detoured? I won’t pretend to know what’s on the other side. But I’m hoping that the result, like our freshly picked apples, will be a sweetness unlike anything you’ve ever known.

Press on. Who knows. It might be worth the drive.