I found it today. The perfect banana. What makes up a perfect banana, you may ask? I know it is different for everyone but for me it is yellow with a hint of green. No brown on the peel whatsoever. Brown is bad. Unless you are making banana bread and cookies. It was firm and stringless when I peeled it. It was quite simply put—perfection in a peel. I ate it and reveled in the flavor and texture. And then I got a little sad. You could even say I was verklempt. Because it was gone. I realized I did not savor it as much as I should have. I did take a picture but seriously–will I ever find another banana of that magnitude again? I am doubtful. It embodied every thing that I love in a banana. Insert sad face here. There are lessons in this banana story. Seize the day. Savor the moment. Enjoy the experience. Live life to the fullest. Add your own to the list.
You know that I strive to live up to the tagline of my blog—Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary–every day. Today I am going to offer you up some facts about my extraordinary banana as found on a great website Today I Found Out.
1. Bananas are naturally radioactive. They contain high amounts of Potassium-40 which is a radioactive isotope of potassium.
2. There are about 1000 types of bananas in the world but most of them are not suitable to eat. The Cavendish is the commercially produced and favored plant.
3. Over 100 million bananas are consumed annually in the world
4. Americans each eat about 26. 2 pounds of bananas a year making them the favored fruit.
5. People in Uganda eat an average of 500 pounds of bananas EACH yearly. Wow!
6. Bananas don’t really grow on trees. They grow from a root structure that has an above ground stem and is actually classified as an arborescent (tree like) perennial herb!
7. The banana fruit is actually a berry!
8. A cluster of bananas is actually called a “hand” with a single banana being called a “finger”.
Hope my little extraordinary banana made your day today. You know it is a slow day when I write about bananas. But please—tell me how you like yours!
And don’t forget my giveaway of a Gadnake journal…. head over to this post to find out about it.
