"Nora, I'm just so happy!"
"Why are you happy, Silas?"
"I'm just so happy being an apricot!"
"Ok... Me, too..."
"Know what makes me happy?"
"What, Avery?"
"Pushing Silas in a pile of grass."
"Very funny. What else?"
"I like climbing to the very top branches of the apricot tree, where they're just about to bend because they're so thin, and looking out over the whole town from the top of my very own tree."
"Except it's our tree, too."
"True. But I'm happy to share it with you two. Nora, what makes you happy?"
"When the sun shines through the clouds and makes those shafts of light come down, I like that."
"Excellent!"
"And when Silas comes home with grass sticking all over him."
"Not you, too, Nora!"
"You make us happy, Silas!"
"I don't know what to say."
"Say, 'I'm happy!'"
Together: "We're happy!!"
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Jam
Silas loves to play at the park. He loves to swing and slide and climb. He's kind of a natural at climbing, actually. And at his favorite park, he can drop out of a tree right onto the slide. Sometimes he drops from so high and slides so fast that he flies halfway across the playground before he lands! It feels like halfway to him, anyway. In any case, it's really far.
Not too long ago, Silas was practicing his tricks at the park, which was packed with so many people that they didn't notice an apricot dropping out of the trees onto the playground equipment. They didn't notice the apple, either, but that is someone else's story. The pine cones were just pine cones. Silas got a lot of good climbing in that day, and he was pleased with his dropping-and-sliding performance, too. Just as the park had cleared out for the day, Silas geared up for one final flight across the playground. He chose the tallest slide (which was, naturally, the fastest) and climbed as high as he dared up the closest tree. He studied his angles, took a deep breath, and then dropped at the perfect moment on the perfect spot on the slide. Well, that slide whisked him right down, and he was three-quarters of the way across the playground before he had let out all his breath. Unfortunately, Silas hadn't really planned out his landing, and he happened to land in the exact spot where, earlier in the day, some kid had been eating lunch. Splat! That was one sticky peanut butter and jelly puddle! Avery came by just as Silas was rolling himself out of the mess.
"Silas!" said Avery. "Are you in a jam?"
"Ha ha ha," said Silas. "As a matter of fact, I am."
"Well, let's get you out of it," said Avery. And Avery pushed him out of the sandwich goop and onto the (freshly mowed) lawn, where he rolled him around a little bit. After taking a picture of the now-grassy Silas, Avery used some of the blades of grass to scrape off most of the jelly, which Silas would not have been able to do on his own. On their way home, Avery and Silas discussed how to tell the story to Nora and the others who would ask about Silas's remaining jelly patches. And Silas told Avery all about how far he had flown off the slide. Before they climbed up the tree, Silas tapped Avery on the back.
"What is it?" Avery asked.
Silas smirked. "Thanks for getting me out of a jam."
Not too long ago, Silas was practicing his tricks at the park, which was packed with so many people that they didn't notice an apricot dropping out of the trees onto the playground equipment. They didn't notice the apple, either, but that is someone else's story. The pine cones were just pine cones. Silas got a lot of good climbing in that day, and he was pleased with his dropping-and-sliding performance, too. Just as the park had cleared out for the day, Silas geared up for one final flight across the playground. He chose the tallest slide (which was, naturally, the fastest) and climbed as high as he dared up the closest tree. He studied his angles, took a deep breath, and then dropped at the perfect moment on the perfect spot on the slide. Well, that slide whisked him right down, and he was three-quarters of the way across the playground before he had let out all his breath. Unfortunately, Silas hadn't really planned out his landing, and he happened to land in the exact spot where, earlier in the day, some kid had been eating lunch. Splat! That was one sticky peanut butter and jelly puddle! Avery came by just as Silas was rolling himself out of the mess.
"Silas!" said Avery. "Are you in a jam?"
"Ha ha ha," said Silas. "As a matter of fact, I am."
"Well, let's get you out of it," said Avery. And Avery pushed him out of the sandwich goop and onto the (freshly mowed) lawn, where he rolled him around a little bit. After taking a picture of the now-grassy Silas, Avery used some of the blades of grass to scrape off most of the jelly, which Silas would not have been able to do on his own. On their way home, Avery and Silas discussed how to tell the story to Nora and the others who would ask about Silas's remaining jelly patches. And Silas told Avery all about how far he had flown off the slide. Before they climbed up the tree, Silas tapped Avery on the back.
"What is it?" Avery asked.
Silas smirked. "Thanks for getting me out of a jam."
Friday, February 25, 2011
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!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Roll On!
Avery found a roller skate, and he's showing off for everyone! He's been practicing ALL day!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
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!
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