BANANAS

Outside our Lanai is a dwarf banana "tree".  It has a nice bunch of bananas growing on it, and we are sorely tempted to pick them since there were no bananas at the grocery.  But these are still green.  I read up on bananas and find out that if they are immature, they won't ripen.  I cut a test banana from the top of the bunch and put it in a bag with an apple (puffing hard with ethylene gas.)  If this one ripens, the bunch is ready.  After all, what's the point of coming to Hawaii if you can't have your apple bananas?

Two days later, the apple has puffed itself into mush but the banana is barely more yellow than when I picked it.  I take a drive to a farm store (which is now open because the Memorial Day weekend is over) and buy lots of apple bananas.  We also decide to try another variety which should be ripe on our last day.

As we are getting ready to leave, all that remain are the unknown other variety of banana and the test banana I picked. We try the unknown variety and it is rather like bananas at home.   Not too exciting.  I open our yellow-green banana and we split it.  Yum!  Ripe just in time.  Someone else will have to enjoy the rest of them.