Super-ramblicious.

The tree is gone. Finally GONE. Damaged in the blizzard of March 2003, diseased after that. No more rustling against the house, tearing screens and keeping sleep at bay.

The morning light shines bright into the kitchen now without the tree there. Kind of nice to have some natural light.

***

What is it with the cherry craze this year? Everyone’s bringing them to work to share.

I can’t get enough of them. Reminding me of the pies my mom made when we had cherry trees in our backyard in the suburbs of Chicago.

***

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to write for a living. During adolescence, I contemplated careers from meteorology to fashion design to keep the money flowing while the Great American Novel surfaced in my mind. It wasn’t until my last year of college that I realized I could potentially be employed as a writer. Even then, it took seven years for me to be able to put words together to make an impression on others.

Really, it wasn’t until someone challenged me about two years ago, until someone asked me why I seemed so unhappy among all the good things I did have in life. It took me awhile, but I realized why. I hadn’t been writing – hadn’t really been trying to write well since that last year in college.

I started writing again. I chose to focus on non-fiction (mostly diabetes-related) with the essays and informative pieces I have written here. Finding just a little success spreading my message around the blogosphere and beyond has been incredible.

It has been a year since the idea for the potential Great American Novel finally surfaced in my mind. I need to cultivate that, make that happen now, too. (Because, let’s face it, I don’t want to be an accounting clerk forever.)