i got back from the grocery store this afternoon, and for some reason, today was the day i reached a saturation point with gargantuan blemish-free grocery store fruit. let me start by acknowledging what a first-world problem this is. but we bought a bag of petite and delicious pears at a natural foods store about a week ago, and they served as perfect, pointedly sweet snacks and lunch box treats all week long. then today i found myself in our local traditional grocery store produce section, and i saw grapes the size of plums and pears the size of dinner bells and honeycrisp apples the size of grapefruits and grapefruits the size of melons, and melons the size of toyotas. i couldn’t do it. it all looked just a little bit frankensteinian and unappetizing. then on an afternoon walk, i passed a forgotten crabapple tree along an obscure side trail, and its correctly sized, perfectly imperfect fruit made my mouth water and my heart skip a beat.

crab apples in october

grass lake regional trail, saint paul, minnesota