Sha Naa Naa

If you’re not reading this entry through the RSS feed, you’ve probably noticed a small change to the blog. I’ve Gone Pink for October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and cancer research.

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I had all four of my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday evening.

I think I’m supposed to be wallowing in pain with engorged cheeks. Instead, I’m applying for contract jobs, tweaking Wordpress themes, creating websites and — strangest of all — writing blog posts.

Hopefully, this productivity sticks around without my having to lose more teeth.

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I am a mass consumer of the written word. I read books, magazines, websites, instructions for putting equipment together — even the sides of cleaning products.

But when it comes to producing the written word… I’ve had trouble. It seems like the ability to write to my exacting standards left me in the midst of college. (Highly inconvenient when you’re an English major.)

It’s time to stop obsessing over saying the right thing, and start saying something. As inspiration, I look to two of my relatives:

1. my little brother, who has been blogging for years at Harvard University, and
2. my sister-in-law, who recently started a blog before she leaves for medical school.

Wit, intelligence and dedication. They have all three.

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My apartment is on the first floor. We have a small concrete patio that is bordered by bushes and a small tree. It’s very nice here — but I long for a place where my gardening isn’t confined to houseplants and where I can paint the walls something other than white.

In the spring, the tree produced beautiful whitish blossoms. I wondered what kind of tree it was. It almost looked like an apple tree… but something was off. In June, it began to produce fruit. Small clusters of yellow berries slowly turned red, and then turned blue. As soon as they started to show the first hint of blue, the birds descended.

“If the birds like the berries, they must be edible,” I said to my husband Andrew. “I wonder if they’re any good.”

“Pick some and see,” he replied.

After checking online to find out the name of the tempting fruit — juneberries! — I picked a few and shared them with Andrew. They looked like blueberries on the outside, resembled plums on the inside, and tasted like a mild form of pear or apple. They were very, very good.

I look forward to the day when I can plant my own juneberry tree in front of my own house. For now, I’ll plant juneberries on my blog.

(The design is still in flux. Bear with me.)

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“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”

- Mary Anne Radmacher

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