most of you know that i am rapidly approaching the big 4-0. to be quite honest, i am not really all that freaked out about it, though i have moments of thinking that i should be. if anything, i see it as a symbolic milestone, one that i am choosing to honor and celebrate, in part, with the creation of this blog.
to be frank, i must give credit to a relatively new Portland friend of mine, Bradi Nicoll Ross. simply put, Bradi is AMAZING. she is a mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter, and a friend. she is a writer, a teacher, an artist, a photographer, a chef, a farmer, and a bibliophile. and, Bradi is a storyteller. Bradi also maintains not one but TWO blogs. her blogs make me laugh out loud and sometimes they make me cry; they always make me happy. and despite being a full year older than her, i am quite sure that i want to be Bradi when i grow up. and, SHE, my friends, is the inspiration behind this blog, that i am calling applesauce.
another inspiring woman behind this blog is my mom, Alice, for two reasons: first, my mom refuses to get on Facebook, despite the fact that most of her peers are on it. and yet she insists on being kept informed about EVERYTHING happening in my life before i publish it on Facebook. so, with this blog it is my hope that my mom can subscribe to it and keep up with my oh-so-exciting life without having to join the other 800+ million people on the planet using Facebook. Also, i give my mom credit for the name of this blog: applesauce. as far back as i can remember, my mom made homemade applesauce, primarily for my father, Fred. one of my favorite memories of this process was seeing the foley food mill attached to the edge of the largest mixing bowl in the house, a black and red heavy plastic bowl used for everything from forming homemade meatballs to catching popcorn from the air popper. mom's applesauce was, at least to a child's palate, tart, and yet sweet. it was gently spiced with cinnamon, and always made with love, as i hope that my blog will be.
my mom and dad were visiting Ben and me over Thanksgiving. in addition to pumpkin bread and apple crisp, she also whipped up a batch of applesauce. somehow, for reasons which i will neither in this moment speculate on nor disclose, Ben decided that i was a lot like the applesauce. conveniently the letters A and S are part of both applesauce and Amy Smith, so, you see where this is going, right? thus a new nickname for me was born and in our house, or at least to Ben, i am now known as applesauce.
and so with 40 just five days away, i am inspired to share with you a part of myself and i'll call it my applesauce. i hope that you will enjoy it!
