Ripe Bananas

Amongst the dogs barking and the bearded dragon trying to catch crickets today I began making another batch of chocolate chip banana muffins. A lone ripe banana caught my eye, and for a moment all the noise stopped around me. I became wholly absorbed in the yellow of its skin and the slight mottling of the brown signs of age. There were areas where the skin had started to sag a little and creases here and there. It was laying next to an unripe almost green tinged banana, and this was smooth and seemingly flawless.
I looked at my own hands and saw that there were some similarities between the ripe banana and my hand. Slight sagging and creasing and some brown spots starting. I had noticed at the grocery store yesterday that the overripe bananas had been bundled into bags on the discounted rack. "Still good for baking" the sign had said. I considered how this too felt in parallel to humans and how in time we become less smooth, more wrinkled we are often discounted. We are often placed as less than but still good for some things. As I continued to stir the batter, I placed the spoon down and peeled the ripe banana. The inside was a little mushy and brown in places. A memory came to mind where my son had talked to me about how someone had said that there were two types of older people. Kind and bitter and no real in-between. We had a fantastic conversation discussing why some people may feel this way and what could be done differently. As I considered this I tasted each banana in front of me. The vaguely green one and the saggy overripe one and the tastes, as you know, are very different. The overripe banana so delicious and sweet and the young banana without too much flavour. This also can be said for the richness of the soul. Most humans with time become richer in their journey with stories and life lessons that some never share. All humans, actually all beings, have an exterior shell they present to the world, and the soul and or heart is the true richness. The beauty of the exterior often never mirrors the bounty within. 
The bananas had now become delectable moist and tasty muffins for breakfast, and so the circle of life continued. Young and old we all have worth as is true for all things.
The barking delights of the dogs became more present in my mind, and the bearded dragon caught all of his crickets. The days journey now began with muffins warm and ready on the table.