When I was about seven years old, I had an affinity for two things.

Curious George and Bananas.

It would come to no surprise if the banana industry had created Curious George and his friend, the man with the yellow hat,

has a ruse to sell more bananas, but nevertheless, to this day, I still remember those stories,

and I've had great pleasure reading them to my kids as well. What I could never figure out

is why the man with a yellow hat would always say, okay, George, I'll be back in a bit, but

don't get into any trouble.

Every time. And of course, he would.

George. But without George being fascinated by anything shiny, I guess we'd have no curious

George books. And probably no banana industry.

And there I go again, completely off topic.

Sorry, I'm trying to get better.

At the time, my family, being my mom, my dad, and my brother, we were living in Roanoke, Virginia,

whereas most of my extended family

were in the foothills of North Carolina, a little more than a three-hour drive or so.

So, having family visit was a big deal.

On one such occasion an uncle was visiting and noticed my preoccupation with bananas. Don't eat the last

bite of the banana, he said. Staring back, eyes wide, mouth full, I stood there. There's a spider at the

bottom of every banana, he said. everybody knows that. I couldn't swallow.

I dropped the banana as if I had been holding a tarantula.

And to this day, almost 40 years later, I have yet to eat the bottom quarter of a banana.

And no, for what it's worth, there are no spiders than the last bite of a banana. And no, for what it's worth, there are no spiders in the last bite of a banana.

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