Little G visits Johnny Appleseed … Sorta.

Little G’s most recent adventure took a bit of a morbid turn, as he decided to tag along with April & I when we went to visit the grave of Johnny Appleseed on Saturday. Appleseed died and is buried in Fort Wayne, IN, where I live.  The town hosts the annual Johnny Appleseed Festival each fall.  Good times.

The original plan was to visit Johnny Appleseed Park and take pictures of the pink, white, and red blossoms on the trees.  When Little G overheard April & I talking about the fact that Appleseed’s grave was at the park, our nice trip to the park turned into a full fledged adventure with the little ninja.  I don’t know why visiting a grave was such a big deal to him, but Little G insisted on going.

When we got to the park Saturday evening, the little ninja was the first one out of the car, and he made a beeline toward the grave site.  When we caught up with him, Little G was standing in front of the welcome sign, reading the information board.  It was just a brief biography of Johnny Appleseed, but was interesting nonetheless.

There was a bit of a walk from the welcome signs up to the grave site, and Little G was being a bit mischievous along the way.  We had stopped at a bend in the path and Little G was posing for a photo, when we heard something moving in the bushes behind him.  And all of a sudden, this wild rabbit literally flew out of the bush, and ran down the hillside.

Now, I’ll admit it did startle April and I a bit, but not Little G.  He took advantage of the time it took us to regain our composure, and his ninja skills for that matter, and simply vanished from sight before April and I turned away from watching the rabbit.  We figured he had decided to run ahead to the grave, so we continued up the path.

Just before getting to the grave site, we caught a glimpse of something moving in the trees ahead of us.  It was Little G.  When we reached that spot in the path, the little ninja dropped down from the tree, and struck a pose in front of the grave site entrance.  And, of course, Little G just insisted on having his picture taken in front of the grave itself.  He’s such a hoot some times.

After looking at the grave for a bit, we walked on down to path to look at a cabin in the park.  To our knowledge, the cabin was believed to have been one that Appleseed lived in before he died.  That may not be accurate, but that’s the story Little G insisted on going with. And who am I to argue with a ninja.

It was rather cold and windy out while we were at the park Saturday evening, and April & I were ready to leave long before Little G was.  In fact, he decided to drag out our suffering a little longer, as he pulled another vanishing act as we were making our way back to the car.  We were not impressed, but Little G really didn’t seem to give a rat’s pertutti.  He wasn’t feeling a thing.

We eventually found him, swinging through the branches of another tree.  He stopped on one of the branches and posed for another picture.  April & I intended on it being the last during this trip.  As I was giving directions to Little G, and focusing the camera, April was making her way around behind him.  As soon as I snapped the photo, April reached up and grabbed Little G, and stuffed him in the camera bag, and we made a beeline for the car.  Oh sure, Little G was yelling and complaining, but our give-a-damns were frozen, and we really didn’t care.

All-in-all, April & I had a great time at the park.  It may not have ended the way Little G wanted it to, but I think he’ll be able to look back on it and laugh someday.  I know I will.

To see more photos from this and other adventures, visit the Flickr gallery titled “The Adventures of Little G“