My I'm Large

My, I'm Large
My, I'm Large
My, I'm large
Just before I fell asleep last night
I lost track of my size
I think I'm huge now

I don't know why
I still seem to fit inside my car
'Cause I'm not the same size
I know I'm huge now

Ever since I was a kid I'd lay in bed at night
And it would seem like my body got bigger
Always in the morning I'd be back to normal
but look at me now, I'm so enormous

Little persons all around me
Sweep the streets and mow the lawn
It's so lonely being different
I'm afraid I might hurt them

     -"My, I'm Large" - The Bobs

Since I last checked in, I have been pollenated and am slowly getting closer to being a real life Napa Cabernet Sauvignon wine! In reality, I'm not really "ripening" yet. I am slowly gowing through a growth spurt of cellular division. Since I last posted photos, I have grown at an exponential rate...My stamen have fallen off and my pistil has expanded over ten times it's original size. Look at that picture on the left. I had the "winemaker" pull a neighboring berry and bring it into the lab. That little brown spot dead center of the berry; that's the original tip of my stamen where I was pollenated.What's going on inside right now? Well, as you can see on the right, two seeds are slowly developing. Otherwise my interior is mostly a gelatinous mixture of plant cells, chlorophyll, and malic acid. All my neighbors and I are a good centimeter in diameter. Compare that to the begining of the month when I was less than a millimeter across and you can see how far I've come, yet a long way to go. In a few weeks verasion will begin...that's when the real changes begin...more on that next time!

Until next time,

Gilbert Grape