“For that is the true genius of America – that America can change.

Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.”

President-Elect Barack Obama

Grant Park, Chicaco

Election night

A secret garden: just the place to draw, to read, to think, take your problems. Pull some weeds, watch some bumblebees, plant some zinneas or cherry tomatos. A little vitamin D, a little dirt and messiness, a little (or lot of) perspective. It’s to my secret garden, tucked behind the creaky Victorians and bumpy brick sidewalks of my Cambridge neighborhood, that I bring all my problems.

When I first thought about starting this blog, I had absolutely no idea of how to start. What to say and how to say it? Lois Lowry, a favorite author from my childhood, once wrote, “stories don’t just appear out of nowhere. They need a ball that starts to roll…”

An embarrassing amount of time and failed attempts later, and my ball was definitely not rolling. I threw up my hands and retreated to the garden. I thought I was getting away from my blogging block, but in truth, its solution was staring me in the face. Like digging in the dirt, blogs are the opportunity for raw spontaneity and a little messiness. Blogs give you permission to be imperfect for the sake of what’s created by pure instinct, observation, and just plain having fun. It requires the ability to take a leap of faith, plant the little spout of an idea, and see what happens.

So, what will the future of this little sprout hold? I have no idea. But I begin my blog, my metaphorical garden, with a sketch of its inspiration. There is a good chance much of what you’ll read here grew out of a sunny afternoon planting a tomato plant just like this one.