Irregular Carrots

As children we quickly develop standardized images of things. An apple is roundish and red. A carrot is long and orange...except when they are not. One of the delights of going to the farmers market is discovering yellow-green apples with brownish-red speckles, or red, yellow and purple carrots ranging from short and stout to thin as asparagus stems. But even at the farmers market, some things get relegated to a discount bin. Last week, it was the carrots that were too odd or unattractive to go in the usual bags. Some looked like half-formed animals with tails. The two-legged ones seemed distinctly human. I am pretty sure that there is a children's story waiting to be written about these carrots, explaining what happens when they come to life, then scurry out of this bin.