We are not concerned that they're not both perfect spheres, because in some sense they are spherical, but imperfectly so and especially one which is more imperfect and also dense but not malignant. So one is negative and one is benign, and it's the benign one which captures/craves attention. Our attention is engaged but split and not evenly, that is to say it's not 50-50. It's more like 30-70 or even 20-80. Benign-ness is a dubious quality. We hunger for the haven of the negative. We regret the reports surfacing with an annoying regularity, with an excess of detail. Ill-made, irregular, deviant, deformed. Further—the detail's not explained so much as noted.

In the orchard stout fellows go about their tasks, leaning ladders against contorted trunks. Gravensteins are delicious but irregular in presentation. Most are weather-beaten. The trees themselves are rather short, gnarled and undistinguished.

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