on fathers, sons, parsnips and turnips

and apples and trees and tasteless faces

To an ant the distance traveled by an apple once it leaves a tree is massive.

To a human the distance is much smaller.

In fact, it’s been remarked regularly that apples don’t travel far from the tree that produced them.

I’m a bit of a weirdo in the world.

My dad?

He seemed pretty darn normal for much of my life.

That was when I had the lived experience of an ant.

Now that I’m older, I see him differently.

Now that I’m older, I can see that of course I’m weird. Look at my dad.

He would likely bristle at this description.

He even passes out there in the world as a ‘normal’.

He can go play snooker, shop at stores and even try on pants without his oddies being discovered.

Just don’t ask him about his turnip.

No, he’s not an avid horticulturist. Though growing up we did have a Victory Garden. The turnip in question? I’m not sure she has a name.

Yet.

This turnip of unknown origins and unknown arrival times lives on the landing between the main floor of their house and the basement. She’s amongst the da…