You guys might be interested in my latest guest post over at Leo Babuta’s blog, Write To Done:
Research Sources for Writers: A Guide to Backing up Your Words
The article is about writing and has little to do with the themes of this blog, but if you’re a writer or blogger it might be worth looking into.
Hope you enjoy it! If you do like the article, please Digg or Stumble! :)
The Growing Life is dedicated to my grandparents, Dowlin and Daisy, and to their California citrus nursery. They’ve lived the growing life quite literally, and their story’s far from typical.
Their Story
Dowlin and Daisy met in 1955 and married 3 months later in California. Dowlin was 23 and had dropped out of high school several years earlier to work and support his parents (I followed in his steps, but left high school for very different reasons). Daisy was an 18-year old transplant from Tennessee. At the time of their honeymoon, they collectively had $50 to their names.
Their honeymoon lasted a day. The following morning they moved to Yuma, Arizona to start an agricultural labor gig. It lasted a month, and they were paid with a little money and 100,000 seedlings used to start a citrus nursery in California’s Sonora Desert. After starting the nursery, Dowlin worked 18-hour days, tending to his citrus nursery by day and working for others by night to maintain cash flow.
From these humble beginnings came the largest citrus nursery in the U.S. What touches me is not the nursery’s size, however, but the humanity it’s infused with. Yes, millions and millions of citrus trees were raised on that dusty, dry desert landscape. But my grandparents and their nursery also gave birth to aunts, cousins, families, as well as my mother, brother, and me. We’ve all lived there (at one time or another), grown up there, and have hundreds of memories associated with its every square foot. My psyche is inextricably bound to my grandparents’ nursery, to its desolate desert landscape, and to the truckloads of trees that have come and gone over the years. Read the rest of this entry »
You guys might be interested in my latest guest post over at Dumb Little Man:
8 Things a Pickup Artist Can Teach You About Seducing Your Spouse
It’s probably not something I’d post here, but what I most enjoy about guest posting is the ability to write about topics beyond the scope of The Growing Life (like writing, for example).
Hope you enjoy it! :)
Copyblogger just hit publish on a post that that would never make an appearance here. If you’re a blogger (and even if you’re not), you may still find it interesting. It’s called:
6 Ways That Bloggers are Like Rappers
Be sure to check out the commentz, they’re hilarious-izzle.
-Clay
I launched The Growing Life two weeks ago and the reception has me enthusiastic and grateful. I’m glad that you’re here. And given recent friendships and the humbling generosity of people I’ve never met, I think it’s time to introduce myself.
About one year ago, Unitarian Universalist minister Kate Tucker related some thoughts on identification that hit home. While boarding a train, Reverend Tucker was asked to show her ID; in that situation, the criterion for train boarding was simple: who you were, and who you said you were, had to be the same. On this page I’ve hopefully honored this criterion and her remarks.
So let’s get to introductions. I’m Clay. Pleased to meet you. I’ll say a bit about myself and am all ears to responses. Here goes . . .
Some of my favorite things are Quetzals, food prepared in a campfire (or a Dutch oven), the outdoors, backpacking, and human rights. Like a mutual fund, I seem to grow up more than down over a five-year period, but the key is to hold on, not sell
