The grass is always greener...

I have an immense fondness for cereals. I’m not talking about breakfast cereal (I’m more of a yoghurt/English breakfast kind of gnome), but the crops. Everything about them fascinates me: the color range of greens and yellows, the way the wind creates waves in them, the soft rustling sound in the breeze...

My childhood was spent amidst trees, grass and cows. Cereals weren’t very popular in our part of the country, so I only knew  what ears looked like from pictures in books. As a kid, I firmly believed this was the source of our daily bread:

I used to collect the ears and take them home with me, adding to our family’s daily needs. I would carefully pick out the grains and smash them with a stone to create flower. I was outraged and utterly disappointed when my dad told me it was ‘just’ grass, and unsuitable for making bread. Well, it was the only thing around that remotely looked like ears, so it *had* to be cereal, right?

As I grew older and started taking biology classes, it all became clear to me. But I still can’t walk past a grainy grass without remembering and smiling.