Pronunciation

I've decided to do my part to settle the age-old debate on how to pronounce the word "apricot."  I've heard it many different ways - "ape-ricot," "app-ricot," "ah-pricot."  And, while I have my opinions, I didn't want to enter the ring with an unfounded argument.  So, the first thing I did was to check the dictionary.  I have a 3rd edition (1994) American Heritage dictionary, and it lists both "app-ricot" and "ape-ricot" as pronunciations.  Next, I searched Google, determined for my position to be validated.  "How to pronounce apricot" got me about 58,200 results, including "How to say grapes in Polish," which I investigated just because I was so intrigued that it would show up in my search (it demonstrates all kinds of fruit in Polish, including apricots) and "My poodle's ears STINK...," which I did not investigate.  From what I gathered from the articles and posts on Google, it all just depends on what part of the country you're from - either way is correct, depending on how the people in your region say it.  And so I have the liberty of pressing upon anyone who happens to read this MY argument for how to pronounce "apricot."  When talking about the fruit or the fruit tree, I say "ape-ricot," with a long "a."  When I'm talking about the color, I say "app-ricot," (which could be mistaken for "ah-pricot," according to those who claim I have an accent, but to my ears I'm saying "app-ricot").  Oh, and there might be slightly more stress on the first syllable, but, for the most part, all three syllables are stressed equally.  And that is my opinion.  Someone from a different part of the country will have a different opinion.  And that is okay.  We can both be correct!

Roll On!

Avery found a roller skate, and he's showing off for everyone!  He's been practicing ALL day!





Balloon

  Nora and Silas looked down from the top of the tree.  "A little to the left!" called Avery.  "Got it!"  Nora and Silas chimed in unison.  They hopped down a few branches to where Avery was waiting.  "Mylar," he grinned, "Nice one!" Then he filled it with air (not an easy task for an apricot), and the three friends lowered the balloon to the ground.  "What do we do now?" asked Nora in her apritot voice (for she was very young).  "DO?!" both boys shouted.  "We jump on it!!"
  Nora felt a pit in her stomach (besides the one that was already there naturally).  She was supposed to jump on this thing?  From that height in the tree?  She climbed a little lower.  Just then, Silas whizzed past her and landed with a phloink in the center of the balloon.  But instead of bouncing back into the tree like he anticipated, all he did was slide sideways onto the ground.  Avery and Nora both laughed and laughed.  And Silas laughed, too, because it actually was a lot of fun.  Avery went next, with results similar to Silas's. By this time, Nora had mustered up the courage to jump.  However, Avery's jump had squelched the last of the air out of the balloon, and so she had nowhere to land.  Suddenly, she heard Avery's voice.  "It's ok, Nora, just jump to us!"  And Silas.  "Yeah, jump to us, Nora!"
  Nora jumped.  And when Avery and Silas caught her, they let her slide off of them just like they had slid off of the balloon.  Safely on the ground, they threw the balloon away.  It's what they had planned to do, anyway, and a toy that loses its air that quickly loses its appeal quickly, too.  So, they threw it out and then climbed back up the tree for dinner.  And THAT is what apricots do with balloons.
 

How It Began

It began with a hallucination.  Really!  I've had similar experiences before - lots of people do, actually, they just call them other things (dreams, visions, memories, etc.).  However, this one was a bit more... visual... than usual.  What I saw was a book - a children's book called "Happy Apricots," complete with a picture of two smiling apricots on the cover.  It looked a little old-fashioned, like the artwork in "The Little Engine That Could."  After I got over the shock of it being GONE when I looked away and then looked back, I said to myself, "This is a story worth telling."  But then I couldn't think of just one story to tell, and the story I did start was boring even to me.  What, a family of apricots?  What are they doing, performing at Disneyland?  Is that why they're happy?  No, no, this would NOT do.  And so began this blog.  It's like a day-to-day, week-to-week story of the apricots - I don't know yet how often I'll be adding to it, but the point is that I'm not limiting myself to just ONE story.  I'm going to follow the "lives" of three apricots (to begin with) and see what happens with them and how their characters develop!  This is simply an avenue for me to exercise my imagination AND my writing muscles.  Oh, and I'm also not limiting this solely to the apricots.  If I come across something (an inspirational quote, say) that is meaningful to me or someone in my life, it just may end up on here (there will be a separate page for this).  Happy reading, and Happy Apricots!