An Inauspicious Beginning

Welcome to my blog about how a boy raised on TV and Twinkies discovered what really matters in life (hint: it's not TV or Twinkies).

Kids. Marriage. Organic Gardening. Photography. Bicycling. Music. These are the masala in my curry.

It's not really fair to say that I was completely raised on TV and Twinkies. Sometimes there was a power outage. Or we ran out of Twinkies and had to get acquainted with Twinky's poor cousins: Pop Tarts. David Sedaris described it best: "'We were the family whose TV was so hot we needed an oven mitt to change the channel."

These days oven mitts at our house are more likely used to pull piping hot loaves of fresh-baked bread out of the oven.

So there, in the photo, you can see where much of my life is lived these days, and where many of my interests co-mingle: on the front lawn. It's generally not covered in snow, and quite often Elle (or L) and Jay (or J) are swinging superstars as they see who can go the highest (it's L, but for now, let's keep that between us).

What is the meaning of life? Or, What is the meaning of my life? While I try to answer, I do have quest that I'm on, for the holy grail of (my) gardening in the Pacific NW: Okra. Although I'd settle for a good melon or eggplant this Summer.

Today I finished putting back together my Craigslist greenhouse. Shelf's inside, holes are patched, door is on and working. And my tomato starts in the garden window are looking a little nervous as I eye them toothily. Don't get too comfy, boys, I tell them. Change is afoot.