sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

A wonderful second day of apple thinning. But I have to stop feeling sorry for the apples. Ever see that episode of Friends where Phoebe is sad because no one wants the ugly brown christmas trees and so they get thrown into the chipper, unable to fulfil their christmas destiny? It's a bit like that. All these apples, sitting happily, until I come along and decide who is not worthy to live and I pluck them off and toss them to the ground. All because they are growing too close to their neighbours. But it has to be done, otherwise both will die later when they get too big and crowd each other out. Or is it more like some sort of communism/dictatorship/Star Trek episode where one must be sacrificed for the good of many? The trees I did at the end of the day today, I had to strip off all the apples from the top section. Otherwise, when the fruit matures, the branches will get top heavy and break off. See? Cruel to be kind.