How do you like them apples?

I had a near perfect day yesterday. Maybe I would go so far as to consider it a perfect day, a perfect day for a regular day anyway.

This was a first in the tale of Danny and I. We spent the day together. It was almost as though we were real. Of course as with all of my relationships, this feeling is fleeting as nothing lasts, the day comes to an end and I turn back into a pumpkin...is that how the story goes?

Danny spent the night, on purpose. His version of spending the night is coming over at 6:00am and spending my morning/his night. I didn't really even mind this...I was able to get my sleep in (I am a very picky sleeper) but then wake-up next to him and feel happy. We got up around 12:00 and headed out on a day journey to this very specific apple farm three hours away in Michigan. He insisted on this favorite apple farm as it is Martha Stewart recommended and they carry the most varieties of apples and trees. Apparently, there is more to apples than just Honeycrisp and Red Delicious. A lot more. For example, there are varieties of apples that still exist that Mr. George Washington and Mr. Johnny Appleseed would have eaten...cool right?

This is the thing about Danny. He knows something about everything and if he doesn't know something about something, he at least knows he doesn't know it...get it? Meaning a silly apple outing is more than just picking apples for fun, it is serious business...he knows the different varieties of apples, how long they will keep, which to use with cooking, which to make cider with, which to eat when, etc. And then it gets complicated: the trees. Which tree produces which apples, how tall it will be, how vast, how many apples, how to prune, when to prune, how to graft (which is apparently sodding a different variety of apple onto a host tree or something). Seriously, huh? There is a lot to know about apples. When he told me I needed to bring at least $100 with for the apples, I thought he was kidding. But oh no, he spent at least $150 on apples and a new tree. I spent $10 on the important stuff--cider and jelly. Yummy, we are going to drink spiced run and apple cider this weekend :). So our apple outing was more than an apple outing, it was an education.

And the education didn't stop there, rather it started in the car ride to the Wolverine State. When I say that he knows about everything, he really does, and it is in great detail. Our sweet pleasant fall drive was filled with 6 hours (round trip) of him talking, non-stop. This man can talk. The theme for the car ride was a music education. From the history of punk to the earliest music ever recorded (fiddling) I heard it all. Names, dates, styles, venues, history, smack, tragedies, politics, war, racism, roots, genius. Amazing what there is to know and amazing to know someone who wants to know and finds out.

I find Danny to be completely astounding. He is truly unique and his desire for knowledge (because knowledge is cool and more so because knowledge is power) is insatiable. He wants to know as much as he can about as much as he can and what is left is a man who is as informed about apples as he is about resume writing and job hunting, as he is about the war in Mexico, as he is about the state of the Republic of the Congo, as he is about making a living with a few clicks of the mouse. He is astounding.

But then he is also still him: sex obsessed, totally unattainable, temperamental, paranoid, forgetful, always late, frequently canceling, voyeuristic, and certainly dark. But I guess what I have found is that with him it is worth it. In order to ever clearly see and appreciate the light you have to find your way through the dark. As I have said before, his darkness is bringing me into the light and that my friends feels nice.