This year, Harvard’s orchards did what they do every year: produce extraordinary apples, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, and other fruit. And this year, as always, customers came here from near and very far away, for the simple pleasure of picking that fruit in a beautiful, welcoming setting. Despite the restrictions imposed by COVID-19—mask wearing, hand washing, and social distancing—eager u-pickers flocked to the orchards just for a chance to get outside and do something fun with their families and friends.
To some extent, that’s true every year, but this year the need has a new urgency. After being cooped up at home most of the winter, spring, and summer, and then cautiously emerging to face dire warnings of renewed restrictions as the weather gets colder, it’s not surprising that people want to get out of the house while they can. Here in Harvard, as in much of New England, you don’t even have to leave home to be awash in the beauty of nature. It’s been a spectacular fall, and there were days when the world seemed bathed in a golden glow, with red and orange accents. We all know what comes next, and that has its own beauty, too.
This fall, more than ever, is a time to take each beautiful day as a precious gift. By most accounts, it’s going to be a rough winter in more ways than one.
