In celebration of fruits and vegetables

We all got a nasty cold this week. Congestion, exhaustion, dementia, in one three to five-day package. While I was recuperating, I had some real appreciation for fruits and vegetables. It was 95 degrees out today and that heirloom tomato from Safeway and fresh lettuce from our tiny garden were much appreciated--thanks natural world (and unnatural grocery-store world--one that would play Asia's Only Time Will Tell at top volume, causing me to race through the aisles at top speed so I could escape).

Even eating a banana today, I thought: Wow--I'm so lucky--I can get bananas whenever I want and they always taste so good. I can even get them at Target. I can buy deodorant, batteries and bananas all in one stop. I even got some succulents on sale there last week, but that's another post. So--what...? I told you I had cold-related dementia. So, fruits and vegetables--hooray.

I started a container garden for tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, greens and now future carrots. They're in seed form, awaiting sprout mode. It's excellent to grow food from seeds. The tomatoes are finally showing up after a very late planting this summer. We're lucky to live in such a mild climate, one that favors the Mediterranean diet. If these carrots make it I might branch out into peas. And possibly potatoes--it's the Irish in me. Did you know you can grow them in a garbage can? Charming!

I think this was my first exposure to opera. Thanks Sesame Street. Before sub-par celebrities like Katy Perry, SS used to feature animated singing fruit.


Have you ever seen "Veggie Tales?" Neither have I. It's a very popular animated Christian concept in singing-vegetable storytelling. Which makes about as much sense as a lot of the Bible, I guess. Sorry for sentence fragments. I do have a cold.


So far I've completely avoided "Annoying Orange," until now. Annoying Orange has over 32 million views. It's the Super Bowl of YouTube uploads.


The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra plays it with a straight face.


A carrot clarinet by Linsey Pollak. This carrot swings.