photos from one of my mom's favourite cookbooks
"Sit up straight," Mom told me. I'd been sitting on my knees.
She passed a bowl to Dad. "More peas, dear?" She had a strange look on her face, like the cat that had just swallowed a canary.
"Yes, I love your peas." Dad stretched 'love' out like it was a rubber band.
Something weird was happening between them. Something about peas. And I wanted to know what.
"Years ago, when we were newlyweds, I made Irish stew for the first time—corn, carrots, peas," Mom told me. "Your father ate every bite."
"And asked for seconds." Dad used his knife to catch a pea and speared it with his fork. "Your mother is a good cook. I enjoyed the meal."
"So. Dad loves peas."
"That's what I thought." Mom took a sip of coffee. "But I discovered the truth the next day when I was hanging the wash on the line. When our neighbour, at that time, Mrs. Foster—"
"A childhood friend," Dad added.
"When Mrs. Foster stopped by to talk, 'Have you taught Jim to eat peas yet?' she asked."
"Taught him to?" I looked first at Mom, then at Dad. "You mean you didn't like peas?"
"Not until I tasted your mother's."
"I don't get it? What makes her peas so different?"
"Her secret ingredient." A smile filled Dad's face, and he passed it to Mom. "Love."
Sharing my author journey...
What is social networking?
-Marketing to potential readers...
-Networking with your peers...
-Building community...
-Gaining support...
Last year I came rather hard in favour of blogging and Google +. Anything else I maintained was a time suck. This year... Well, this
year, I'm not so sure.
Why?
Well, because of what happened last week.
Twitter: The beginning of last week, I blissfully unaware of a major event that was due to occur on this very blog. I was unaware until I looked at the stats. 194,999. 194,999? I was one hit away from 195,000 page views.
It'll happen, I told myself. Relax.
But I couldn't relax. I wanted it to happen now.
So what did I do?
I posted a simply request on Twitter. Then I travelled back to witness the results. But I was too late. By the time I arrived I was already at 195,003. Thank you!
And don't get me started on Facebook. It's so addictive. Who knew it would be so fun.
But, I tell myself--often. Remember Twitter and Facebook are like cake and cookies. Fun to nibble but don't make a meal out of them.
That's me. You?
