The Sunny Side of the Apple

The Legend

How It All Began

Once upon a time, near the mountains and the sea, grew an apple orchard. It was planted a century ago by a great, great aunt whose smile and sense of worth would soon earn her angel wings. This orchard grew on rock and was exposed to nature’s whim. The farms' lush fields were a distant sight.

My great, great aunt’s gift to humanity began when she took some special apple seeds and planted them together in clusters of three. Tucking them in between rocks, she laid in a thimble of soil. When she finished placing the seeds, she took baby earth worms that were asleep from a cup lined with silver. Gently, she placed one worm upon each cluster of seeds. Quietly, she said her prayer. “Breathe, and live your life along side these future blooms, they hold life’s mystery. Stay close and be one, under the watchful eye of the sun. Forever, you will be, The Sunny Side of the Apple.” When she finished, she walked slowly away.

The orchard’s genesis that day was a bond between humans above and earthworms below. Earthworms lived through the cycle of blossoms turned into fallen fruit, producing nectar that the tree’s roots absorbed. Why my aunt picked such an exposed place no one knows. Yet, without this bond of insect and human, the orchard would never have survived. My aunt left the orchard with courage, grace, and love.

The orchard beginning that day would weave itself into the lives of four generations of humans above ground, and countless generations of inextinguishable earthworms below. The earthworms kept the orchard vibrant. This link between worm, human, and orchard continued to evolve through the passage of time, and my great, great, aunt’s prayer took flight. Life was good.

One hundred years of memories would come and go. Love and courtship, picnics and events, all took place under the orchard’s fragrant canopy. Yet, the march of time began to show it’s metal, folks grew old, folks moved away... the orchard became increasingly vulnerable to natures impact. The bond between humans and worms grew pale, and became less and less, until almost nothing at all. Only a few apples remained. Life was not that good anymore.

It was during this time that an unusual earthworm, Stanley Wiggle, was born into the orchard. The second son of Mr. & Mrs. Wiggle, Stanley’s engaging smile was apparent from birth.

Stanley loved history, tradition, family and friends. He learned all he could about the orchard, and knew the legend had to be true. Stanley endured the teasing from everyone who thought the legend was silly. Stanley handled the teasing with charm and grace, though he believed that someday he would undertake the quest to reach the Sunny Side of the Apple. Now the orchard had its knight.

The Sunny….
Stories of hope, trust, and friendship
The stories that follow begin from this moment on forward.