2. Maiden’s Blush
Momma Got a letter from Saskatchewan
My 17th Birthday...Fall of 52
I Said goodbye in the cool Ontario dew.
Those Whitevale skies were so deep and blue
Mama packed apples for my trip on the bus
Beautiful apples they're called... the Maiden’s Blush.
Had to change the bus in the Yorkton rains
I gotta help Uncle down on the farm
You see he fell off the tractor, broke his arm
Aunty needs somebody keep him out of harm
I arrived in Sturgis without much fuss
First thing I see Uncles apple tree loaded heavy with the Maiden’s Blush
I picked all the fruit and ran that farm
Winter came...Then the Springtime mud got thick
Uncle healed up but then Aunty got sick
So i said I would stay til October 6
At the barn dance one night I drank too much
I met a girl and I made...that Maiden Blush
Uncles Tractor finally gave up the ghost
But Bergs Garage got a dozen Tractors lined up
Uncle says the number three brings him luck
So he loaded the third tractor on his Flatbed truck
Me I’m at the General store... aint no rush
Meet my girl she’s buying a dozen apples...the Maiden's Blush
Told her I’d stay til Halloween
Two weeks later she says to me
her whole damn family is movin to Kindersley
I told her I just can’t believe
We stayed up late and we kissed and we touched
We talked and at dawn we shared...the Maiden’s Blush
She cried a river when she finally left
Then poor old Aunty got pnemonia deep in her chest
I stayed through the winter and did my best
I wrote letters and mailed em out west
I missed my girl and my heart ache so much
All winter from the root cellar I carry apples...the Maiden's Blush
Alone inside my room I fret and mope
In January dear old Aunty died
It would be so wrong now to leave Uncles side
Cuz the winter was bad... province wide
In my love letters I told her to trust
I would visit her soon, bring her...the Maiden's Blush
Her letters said she was deep in sorrow
Her family moved again and again
I laid out the paper and worked my pen
But she was gone far beyond my ken
My heart was busted my tears how they gush
The rotting apple core by at my bedside is...the Maiden’s Blush
I swore I’d find her... didnt know where to begin
Heard she moved to North Dakota now
Got married and set to raising cows
She worked the land and drove the plough
All the money down there says..." In God We Trust "
Now it's Fall again and I pick... the Maiden’s Blush
One Friday morning at the General Store
Postmaster hands me a letter torn
Return address was blurry and worn
With trembling hand I read and swore
Her child was breach and came in a rush
She died on the farm...my Maiden’s Blush
I don't know how long I stared
The Postmaster gently took me aside
She said “ Word is...she was a reluctant Bride
They say she called your name before she died…”
I set to cry in the snow and the slush
I miss her so...my Maidens Blush
The following Spring, Uncles Orchard got hit
With the rust
Except for one apple tree….
The Maiden’s Blush.
Except for one….
There is only one...
The Maiden’s Blush.