Apple pie was brought to the colonies by European settlers.  Apples aren't even native to North America and didn't grow here until the arrival of European settlers.  And cinnamon and nutmeg?  Those came from as far away as Sri Lanka and Indonesia.  America's first cookbook, American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, published in 1796, included two recipes for the fruit-based dessert.  Easy and affordable, apple pie was a typical American cuisine by the 18th and 19th centuries.  Meghan Overdeep  ttps://www.southernliving.com/food/desserts/pies/history-apple-pie#   

Watership Down is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972.  Set in Berkshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits.  Although they live in their natural wild environment, with burrows, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry, and mythology.  Evoking epic themes, the novel follows the rabbits as they escape the destruction of their warren and seek a place to establish a new home (the hill of Watership Down), encountering perils and temptations along the way.  Watership Down was Richard Adams' debut novel.  It was rejected by several publishers before Collings accepted the manuscript; the published book then won the annual Carnegie Medal (UK), annual Guardian Prize (UK), and other book awards.  Adams completed a sequel almost 25 years later, in 1996, Tales from Watership Down, constructed as a collection of 19 short stories about El-ahrairah and the rabbits of the Watership Down warren.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_Down

Year of the Rabbit  The Rabbit is the fourth of all zodiac animals.  Legend has it the Rabbit was proud—arrogant even—of its speed.  He was neighbors with Ox and always made fun of how slow Ox was.  One day, the Jade Emperor said the zodiac order would be decided by the order in which the animals arrived at his party.  Rabbit set off at daybreak.  But when he got there, no other animals were in sight.  Thinking that he would obviously be first, he went off to the side and napped.  However, when he woke up, three other animals had already arrived.  One of them was the Ox he had always looked down upon.  In Chinese culture, rabbits represent the moon.  Some say it is because the shadows of the moon resemble a rabbit.  Others say it is because of the rabbit’s pure characteristics.  Fefe Ho & Chloe Chiao  https://chinesenewyear.net/zodiac/rabbit/

Feedback re William Faulkner:  Ole Miss is located in Oxford, MS and Faulkner's home, Rowan Oak, is located and owned by Ole Miss.  I had the pleasure of visiting Ole Miss as a guest of the Chancellor, Dr. Porter Fortune and had many occasions to visit Rowan Oak.  The house was very simple as Mr. Faulkner spent most of his time in town at the local drug store with his friends.  On my first visit I was amazed that the outlines of his books were written on the walls of his home--every last one of them!!  Those outlines remain there to this day.  Thank you, Muse Reader!   

Little Strokes, Fell great oaks. – Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (17 Jan 1706-1790)   

All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography. - Federico Fellini, film director and writer (20 Jan 1920-1993)   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2622  January 20, 2023