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These heirloom apples are not much to look at, but one bite and everyone I know becomes a huge fan.

I had to go to New York City to find a farm in the Hudson Valley with russet apple trees. My favorite way to enjoy these apples is to pick them myself. This farm has picked all their russets. Next year I’ll find out when they pick and ask if I can join in.

Getting up before dawn gives me a good chance to see the night sky. The hunters’ moon is beginning to wane. Venus is huge and bright, Saturn is greenish looking, but the rings are not visible, and Mars is red. They form a wide triangle in the night sky.

It’s cold out. The grasses have a patina of frost. The trees lost a lot of leaves during the windy rainstorm a few days ago. New York’s wildlife pathologist, Dr. Ward Stone, says the leaves did not turn vibrant colors this year, in part due to the extended warm, dry weather. He also pointed out that meteorologists are not talking about leaf peeping this year. I noticed this, but hearing Dr. Stone say it hurts.

My local NPR station featured a story about how maple trees suffer as each year gets progressively warmer. When I hear farmers talk about how maple syrup production is declining, my hear breaks.

Maybe it’s a good thing that environmental issues are turning up in the media. I’m lucky to enjoy local honey, but there is mounting evidence that pesticides are the reason for disappearing bees.

I’m glad I took survival courses years ago. I learned that when stranded on the vast ocean, focus on one wave at a time. You can’t take on the entire ocean, but you can negotiate one wave.

It’s one of those times in my life when everything seems to be going wrong. Having driven my car less than 1000 miles since its $1000 repair six weeks ago, the problem is back again. I’d rather be hiking than sitting in a garage.

I’m tempted to just give up. But that’s not survival. Survival is the audacity of hope. Survival is attempting the absurd to achieve the impossible. Survival is about choosing faith over fear.

Everyone I admire and respect has overcome much larger obstacles than the problems I’m facing. So, as I head out to face whatever the day offers, I’ll pack a few russet apples and focus on this special seasonal joy.