Summer Rambo

We bought a beetle!!  A turbo beetle.  Whatever that means.  What's important is that it fits into the free (but tiny) parking space that I've been given and that it won't cost me a fortune as I commute between the pool house and Hudson.  And it makes Tristan happy, which is almost worth the $5k that I paid in excess of what I'd budgeted.  The salesperson tried to get me to fork over another five grand for gingham seats, but I demurred. 

Don't call it cute!!!  Okay, you can.  It is.

The car won't be mine to drive for probably another week, so for now I'm holed up in my apartment, concentrating on trees and seeds and specifically apples.  Of course I'm growing French apples.  Among the ones I've ordered, including the obvious choices of Calville Blanc and Orleans Reinette, is one with the peculiar moniker "Summer Rambo".  The name doesn't immediately seem particularly French and apples might understandably be the last thing the phrase inspires, but this is in fact a very old French apple, whose name has been horribly anglicized over the course of centuries (I think this is why the French can be so uptight about the preservation of their language, just look what happens!!). 

Thanks to the fabulous 'Apples of Uncommon Character', I am over-the-top tickled and giddy to be armed with this bit of trivia:

One person who is a fan [of Summer Rambo] is the author David Morrell, who in 1968 was struggling to find a name for the main character of First Blood, his novel-in-progress about a Vietnam vet.  As he cogitated, his wife came home with apples from a local farmstand.  He bit into one, loved it, and asked what it was called.  "Rambo," she said.  Morrell rushed to his typewriter, and an action icon was born.

We should all be so inspired by fruit.

This weekend we're going to Brooklyn to see some crocuses and socialize with fellow gardeners at the Making Brooklyn Bloom event at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.  Gardening in the city has to present challenges that I can't even imagine, and these people are probably made of tougher stuff than me.  I hope to be inspired by their ingenuity and creativity and continued perseverance in the face of so much concrete.  And be utterly humbled and grateful for my 23 acres of woods and water and earth.  And old apples and young Sylvester Stallone.