This solitary banana has a back-story. I went to the Cambridge Food Co-Op, which takes organic and healthy eating very seriously, to pick up Maria. She works there as a volunteer once a month while I shop there and eat their food. I saw this single banana sitting on the counter beneath a sign that said “Rebellious Banana.” Maria was working near the counter, and I sensed she was somehow behind this. I asked Nancy at the counter what the story was.

Well, she said, there were “organic” and “conventional” bananas on sale at the Co-op yesterday and no one was buying this one remaining banana. So she put a sign on it that said “Rebellious Banana” and then I walked in. I looked at Maria and asked if this was a rescue banana.

She blushed a bit, then looking only the smallest bit abashed, she said it was a rescue banana, she and Nancy thought it needed a home so they decided to call some attention to it. Do you want to bring it home?, I asked, and she nodded. “So this is a rescue banana?” I repeated to Nancy, and she said, why yes, it was. So we brought it home and it spend the night with us. My wife will rescue and re-home any living thing. We re-home spiders, lady bugs, worms, snakes, beetles.

The only creature I am allowed to swat is a house-fly, even Maria has little compassion for them. This morning I took the Organic Rebellious Rescue Banana out to the pasture to take a picture of it. Then I asked Maria if it was okay to eat it. Sure, she said, she just thought it looked lonely out on the shelf by itself. So I ate it, leaving a couple of bites for her. I also gave one bite to the chickens, and she approved.