As I started to plan my side-yard garden this season, the lyrics from the Dixie Chicks song Cowboy Take Me Away came to my mind: “I said I wanna touch the earth / I wanna break it in my hands / I wanna grow something wild and unruly.” Gardening for me has always been an excuse to release my inner tomboy and get dirty.
On any given day I find myself falling into the make-believe world of my favorite stories. Losing myself in the wonder of what my literary friends are doing. Is Elizabeth Bennet reading or out for a walk? Is Daenerys Targaryen on the way to Kings Landing with her dragons? And what awaits her when she gets there? Will Lyra Belacqua find solace after her parents' betrayal? I feel guilty spending so much time pondering the lives of people who don’t really exist. But then I remember the laughter, joy, anguish or wonder that I felt when I was reading about their story.
Well, here we are - December 2012 and the ominous date of 12/21/12 is fast approaching. For weeks I kept referring to 12/12/12 as the ominous day until my daughter kindly informed me I had it all wrong – something teenage daughters are good at, I might add. It turns out there is nothing special about 12/12/12 except that it's the last repetitive date we will ever see.
