Can We Talk 2

Mountain Top

         The local orchard, at least the one nearest my house, features dinner and music on the grounds on Thursday nights in the summer. I had tonight off, so I went. The road was paved since last year. That's good. It winds around and snakes uphill. It's very narrow with a sharp dropoff to one side. You're on a small mountain already before you turn into that narrow driveway. It always scares me to have someone coming in the opposite direction.

         Even though it was 5:30 before we turned in, it was hot as blue blazes up there with no shade in sight. Those peach and apple trees thrive on the hot sun of day and the cool mountain air at night. The store is small and overpriced. There are picnic tables which fill up quickly. The food is expensive. The drinks are sold in a separate building. And there's soft ice cream at a separate stop before you go. We resisted the apple cider doughnuts.

         The crowd was friendly, people of all ages. The musician was good. He covered Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Jr, but made them sound like his own. He sang original songs, too. The food was good. The apple cider slushies were excellent. But the scenery was spectacular. Neat rows of grape vines stretched below us. Rows of apple trees stretched to the right of us as far as I could see. The vehicles in the city below looked like ants. The multi-billion dollar hospital looked like a Lego piece. The sun burned down on us with a cool wind blowing occasionally.

         I took my father who can't hear so good. So I had no one with whom to converse. I shouted at him occasionally. I took some pictures, but the sun glared too brightly. There was no way I could last in that heat until the sun set, about two hours more, especially with a feeble old man who couldn't hear. I hated to leave so soon. I had him wait on the pavement in the shade of the building, while I picked up the car in the gravel parking lot.

         I'm still satisfied. I had my mountain top experience. I saw the beauty. It felt like summer. I broke the routine for the old man now that he's retired. He enjoyed watching the children playing. So it was good.