Friday, May 8, 2020

Today is the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week, so I had planned a lovely tribute to all our dedicated educators, now adapting to the “New Normal” of teaching remotely and online.   THANK YOU!  I was going to drink a glass of hard apple cider in your honor, since you deserve not one apple, but many!

However, this afternoon the doorbell rang unexpectedly, and when I opened the door, there stood my one and only most wonderful daughter, clutching a bouquet and delivering a box full of various bottles of cider from her employer, Blue Bee Cider in Richmond, Virginia.  We had agreed not to meet in person for several more weeks, but there she was–best quarantine day EVER (even though we maintained 6 feet between us and mostly stayed outdoors).

Apple cider is the most traditional American beverage, Daughter will argue, since our earliest settlers consumed cider on a daily basis. (Water was too dangerous to drink.)  Charlottesville’s own Thomas Jefferson grew Hewe’s Crab apples at Monticello since he heard great things about this fruit from George Washington. Curious now?  Stop by any cidery which uses heirloom apples to craft its cider, and have a taste.  (Or pick up a bottle from the curbside.  Buy local!)

I now have so much cider to enjoy.  Happy Mother’s Day to me!