Garbage day tomorrow, and en route to the bins I passed begonias, lobelia and nasturtium, now at war with the leaves.

The leaves are from our apple tree, whose fruit was delicious and abundant this year, as were the grapes. It was a good year for the hydrangea, too, but not the Bowen Island fern I transplanted five Februarys ago, taken from a meadow behind the summer home of Toronto’s Ardis Breeze.

I took an apple with me on my recent trip out east, hoping to leave it with Ardis. It was only after landing that I remembered she and Claude were still on Hornby Island, so I gave it to a taxi driver, who said he would take it home, share it with his family. As he pulled away I noticed his window descend, the apple bouncing behind him.