my mother asked me to decorate the table for thanksgiving.

all of my crafty supplies are in storage in oregon, and i didn’t want to buy anything, but on thanksgiving morning, i still hadn’t been inspired with an idea.

my mother offered me money to buy supplies, but i told her that sometimes it’s good to see how creative i can be using only what i have, so i took my pup for a snowy hike a few hours before dinner with the idea that i would forage for table settings and a centerpiece.

as we set out, i wondered if i could create place settings using wild apples.

on our walk, atlas stopped at a wild apple tree. there weren’t many apples left on the tree, and they were all soft and brown.

i continued on, feeling a little disappointed that the apple idea wouldn’t work out, when i happened to glance to the left. there, a little ways off the trail, was another apple tree. this one was much taller and the top was full of apples.

i tried to shake the tree. the apples wouldn’t fall.

i tried to use the dog leash to lasso the apples. the apples wouldn’t fall.

i was so disappointed. especially since i hadn’t been inspired with another idea.

just then, i happened to glance to the right and there was a long stick resting against another tree. the stick was the perfect height to reach the upper branches of the tree.

i used the stick to knock some apples down from the tree. they landed in the snow. when i dug them out, they were bright red and frosty and beautiful.

it felt like a beautiful gift (and a tiny answered prayer) from the wild world i love so very much.

(in the end, the apples were too frozen to use as place settings, so i placed them on cedar on a plate and it was perfect.)