It is entirely possible there is such a thing as too much isolation.

It leads one to very odd flights of fancy.

…especially when shopping after hoarders have ransacked the produce aisle.

You end up bringing home a quirky specimen.

BEHOLD….THE DRAGON FRUIT!

I’ll admit, I’ve been curious as to what these things might taste like.

A session of mad shopping–the kind where you duck and cover whenever another shopper comes anywhere near you–results in a new and unusual purchase.

I’ve successfully nabbed some much-needed cleaning supplies when the victory over the nearly-empty shelves turns sour. All it takes is a near-hostile exchange with people unaware that a pandemic is taking place.

I’m stopped by dawdlers at the wall of cheeses. I glare at the young couple with their two kids standing in front of the refrigeration display debating the merits of one plastic wrapped cheddar over another for approximately an hour until I want to scream “IT’S ALL THE SAME DAMNED CHEESE, JUST PICK ONE!” and make their kids cry.

[NOTE: I don’t actually scream. But I do seethe for about five minutes waiting with toe-tapping impatience until I loudly interrupted them, “I would just like to get some cheese, if that’s okay?” in a most passive aggressive appeal.]

It is on my way to check-out that post-anxiety, impulse shopping occurs.

Back home, the dragon fruit sat on the counter, as it aged enough to get the required ‘wilted leaves’ by which point it was a lot less photogenic.

Once cut into, the white interior with its plethora of tiny black seeds is revealed.

If I had to describe the taste, I would tell you to go buy one yourself. It tastes nothing like I imagined it would. Pear comes close. If you took that pear down a back alley and blasted it full of buckshot until all the flavor and sweetness had been drained like life blood into the garbage strewn darkness.

Or, as a friend said when I asked her whether she’d like to try some.

“No thanks. I’m good. I’ve had it before. Once.” She paused and added, “It’s not bad or anything.“

I joked, “Yeah, but it’s not good either.”

She laughed and said, “Yeah.”

“At least the seeds aren’t noticeable, unlike kiwi, which are crunchy when you eat them, or as bad as pomegranates!” I spoon up another pallid mouthful.

I chew a few more bites. The tastelessness does not grow on me, despite my desire to like the fruit. The stuff is probably a delicacy in the arid regions where it grows. A king among fruits in a desert. This makes me think of something else.

“It’s like an old boyfriend, where you pretend that they aren’t the problem before breaking up with them. Except that in this case, you’d tell the fruit ‘It’s not me, it is totally you!‘”

“Yeah, it’s the fruit no one would pick if they had a choice.” The friend obligingly humors me on my line of thought.

I wrap up the second half of the much despaired cactus flower progeny and toss it back in the fridge. It was at least filling.

“So much for the exotic potential.” I say. “Dragon Fruit-–the ex-boyfriend of fruits.“

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Stay Tuned as the mind numbing boredom of the stay-at-home-or-else order continues. I may break down and try that Durian that’s been giving me the stink-eye whenever I see it.