Hello! We enjoyed one lovely (cold) sunny day his week. That’s better than none, right? It’s not today, though, so I’ll ignore the rain outside, the lake that has re-formed in my back yard and the plants that are drowning… I’m not doing well ignoring it, am I? 😊
Two weeks ago, I planted some lettuce seedlings and a variety of seeds in a raised planter box. It’s a chilly time of the year to be growing lettuce but they are doing ok. It’s not an ideal time to be sowing seeds for greens, either, but I had a few packets of seeds that had passed their ‘best by’ dates so there was nothing to lose. I added them to the planter box – rocket, parsley, radish and a light sprinkle of lettuce seeds. They are already sprouting and that makes me happy. If you want to grow lettuce from seed, here’s an article by Robin Powell that explains the process.
In case you missed it, I wrote about these plants with cheerful flowers this week. You can read it here.
I’ve been thinking about memoirs. Written from the perspective of the author, a memoir is a story or stories about an important part of their life. It’s not the same as an autobiography, which tends to take a broader perspective. I’ve read four memoirs recently and only one didn’t want me to throw it down in disgust. The other three seemed, to me, so self-indulgent and didn’t convince me they were worth making available to outsiders to read.
I understand how the act of writing helps people sort and process their experiences. Committing thoughts and feelings to paper can be a therapeutic exercise. Journaling can help deal with problems, fears, behaviours, and grief. But with the explosion in numbers of memoirs being published these days, I wonder whether many of them would be better kept private?
These are the questions I am asking myself as I write a series of memoir-type essays related to gardening. They may be of interest to me and help me cope with memories and losses but why would anyone else care?
I’m interested to know if you have enjoyed any memoirs recently. What was it that appealed to you about the book?
Have a lovely week.
