My hero (or one of them)

At the moment I am using a painting of Johnny Appleseed as my Vox "profile photo."  He is one of my heroes.

Why?  Because he traveled the country, as I like to do.  Because he did a good thing, planting those Apple trees, as I wish to do.  They offer fruit, shade, and beauty.  Because he did it not for some immediate gain, and none at all for himself, but for the sake of future generations.  And he did it without a lot of blather and showmanship; his was a quiet, personal, and often lonely task.

Good for him.  Johnny Appleseed, or at least the version of him that is passed down in myth, was a great American.  I would like to be more like him, and I would like it if many others would try, too.

Johnny Appleseed

If the tea-baggers would do something useful, like JA, then we would have a "social movement" worth noticing, protecting, and preserving.  But there are always people who want to rip the good stuff down, instead of building the good stuff up.  Hasn't it always been so?

Comments

[dewitte]

We were on one of our trips a while back and I recall us going to a JA restaurant.  I don't remember where now, though.  All I really remember about JA was when I read The Martian Chronicles and there was a chapter about a martian version of him.

[DoctorD42]

Dewitte, I have been told by knowledgeable but cynical friends that the Johnny Appleseed story was a sort of commercial creation on the part of the apple industry.  They wanted to sell more apples; previously, the "major" pie had been mincemeat.

Whatever the truth is, I do like the story very much, and what it symbolizes.  And I am a fan of Paul Bunyan, too--though not to the same degree.  There can be a lot of "wisdom" in these stories that get handed along, from generation to generation.

Here is a link to a JA restaurant in Virginia.  Perhaps that was it?  Makes me want to go there!

[dewitte]

That's definitely the one and when I expanded the map, I was able to tell that it was on our Luray Caverns trip a few years ago.  I didn't realize they were not a chain.  It was a nice place to eat and they had a lot of apple products - as you would expect - specifically this Apple pancake syrup which was quite yummy.

[DoctorD42]

Thanks, Dewitte.  I'm glad it is not a chain, and am going when we get a chance.  We have relatives in that part of the world, and I like the mountains and the valley and the Appalachian Trail.  And bluegrass music.