159/365 I heard it through the grapevine

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Why do grapes grow in bunches?

Their size is similar to a cherry, which grows on a singular stem. Yet at some point, thousands of years ago in their development, it proved more beneficial to the plant for this fruit to grow in bunches.

Grapes seem to have fascinated people for ages. Think of two examples: 1. Most still-life bowl-of-fruit paintings you see will have a cluster of grapes in it. And 2. when we picture royalty being catered to in ancient Rome, we think of being fanned by palm fronds and being fed grapes.

Why?

And of course there's the I Love Lucy scene.




The grapes in the picture above grow on the fence in our backyard. We'll make jam with them, but I promise we'll be using tools, not our feet, to mash them.

But that does sound fun.

Camera: Canon 40D, 1/125s, f/4 at ISO 1000 under overcast skies at about 8:15 p.m.