Thursday, March 8, 2012

Thursday Thoughts - Johnny Appleseed

Johnny's Seed
by Rachel Hoyt



didn't spread seeds randomly,
he planted crops, showed no greed,
traveled as a missionary...

Or so they say, but did you know
those apples mostly made hard cider -
liquor made them worthy to grow.
Prohibition was the divider...

As liquor became scarce and taboo
to many an alcoholic's dismay
Doctors began saying that you
should eat one apple per day.

A Swedenborgian vegetarian
who owned land but settled nowhere.
A never-been-married humanitarian
who showed animals and insects much care.

You would that think such a man
would have coined the phrase
but sometimes, try hard as we can,
dichotomies are thrown in the maze.

Do you think that Johnny drank
his apple a day all his years?
Or when told that drinking was rank,
did he quit and preach more) to his peers?

© 2012 Rachel Hoyt.  All rights reserved.



March 11th is Johnny Appleseed Day.
Will you celebrate the hard cider way
or by chewing apples to prevent tooth decay?

18 comments:

  1. I'll surely drink apple juice that day
    As I do every day at my bay
    Does that count?
    I'll drink a higher amount
    Tons of info too
    Mucc of which I never knew

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    Replies
    1. I love apple juice too!
      I believe it counts
      especially in high amounts.
      My Martinelli's cup cheers' you.

      :)

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    2. Sugar and acid ... yeah I'm sure that's great for you. Even raw apples don't have the claimed therapeutic effect: see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1606651/?page=1

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    3. Hmmmm... I hope you can see from the way I wrote the story that I am trying to point out that the saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" was made popular out of necessity; because they needed to keep sales up. However, I do believe they are quite good for you and that someone who drinks coffee with milk and sugar daily (me) cannot worry about what my apple intake is doing to my teeth. I do try to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables.

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  2. an apple a day keeps a doctor away, i believe in it. your poem inspires to drink it more. reading it was fun:)

    cheers!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for visiting! I'm glad Johnny & I could inspire you to drink more juice. :)

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  3. Ironically, I was just reading about Johnny Appleseed last week, so all your cool facts in your even cooler poem were instantly recognizable.
    Well done, Rachel!
    Blessings!

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    Replies
    1. Good timing, Martha! I would be interested to know more about Swedenborgianism... his form of Christianity. I'm really glad you enjoyed the poem. :)

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  4. I never knew Johnny Appleseed was a real guy. I thought he was fake like Paul Bunyan, or Babe the Blue Ox. (Of course, now I'm wondering if Paul Bunyan is real.)

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    Replies
    1. LOL. I love how your mind works. I'll start researching Paul & the Babe for you. :)

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  5. So that is where it came from "An apple a day..." Loved it Rachel. I am sure Appleseed did not give on his drinking apple everyday.

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    Replies
    1. TThe saying itself was already around. I couldn't find a difinitive answer about where it originated. But, it was made popular in the United States around the time of prohibition. :)

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  6. An Apple a day (in that case) must keep the doctor away... I always thought there is something wring with that saying : )

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    Replies
    1. What is funny is that the saying is actually true - there's a lot of nutrition in an apple. Plus, they're very good for helping with cholesterol. :)

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  7. I try eating an apple a day... but after weeks of eating them, I find it hard to choke them down! haha Maybe I should start drinking them instead. ;) Loved this!!!

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    Replies
    1. I have to include juice and sparkling juice in my "apple a day" regimen in order to even get close to meeting the goal. I don't count the alcoholic version though. :)

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  8. There's a lot of nutrition in *food*. The health claims of apples aren't based on "nutrition", but specific things like fiber, pectin, and phytochemicals. And what you want is low LDL and high HDL ... in your bloodstream. In *food*, what you want to avoid is saturated fats, not cholesterol.

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    Replies
    1. I think you misunderstood the message of my post due to one comment I made below. I do not seek to promote apples as a miracle health cure.

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Rhyming or not, I would like a lot to hear the thoughts my words brought...