On my annual apple gathering trip to a nearby orchard, I was rather frustrated. The source of my frustration was the discovery that nearly all of the apples that had fallen on the ground were in advanced stages of spoiling. For cider making, bruises smaller than a half dollar aren’t really a problem. “Just makes a juicier batch,” I figure. However, most of these bruises were the size of a dollar bill wrapped around the apple. As if that weren’t sufficient disappointment, many of the apples were just plain rotten.

Instead of harvesting close to half of the ground apples as is my custom, Greg and I had to settle for one in twenty or so. Clearly, these apples had been on the ground at least two or three weeks longer than I expected.

In my frustration, I remembered that our little peach tree presented its offerings nearly a month earlier than usual this year. Lots of rain and early warmth, I suppose, triggered an early harvest. Guess I should have anticipated a similar effect on the apple crop. But, on the positive side, there are still lots of apples in the trees.

So, Greg and I turned our attention to those for a while, even gathering some that are still pretty green. I figure they’ll add a pleasant bit of tartness to the cider. Something to balance the sugar and sweetness, create a more complex flavor.

Whether it’s sour grapes or rotted apples, it seems more productive—and considerably more pleasant—to focus on the positive aspects of our reality rather than resenting a world that doesn’t at this particular moment fulfill our fantasies. I suspect that disappointment is often intended to shift our focus.

And shifting our focus can often end our disappointment. Also, it seems to me that we shouldn’t blame the crop if we are late to the harvest.