Out of My Gourd

As I've mentioned on my website, when it comes to writing novels and gardening....I like to see what happens. The element of surprise, the openness to what develops, is what keeps me going. Curiosity and creativity go hand in hand, you might say.

I've had minor characters in fiction start small, a cameo role, and then insert themselves, intertwining more and more with the story. Kind of like gourds.

Yes, gourds. I planted a few gourd seeds this spring, thinking it might be cool to make birdhouses for purple martins [the only birds, by the way, that prefer gourds...most of them don't like their houses to swing in the wind.] My gourds, all different kinds--winged, warty, dippers--are bolting across the yard, intertwining with tomatoes, scaling the birdfeeders, and climbing the trees [my Camilia bush looks absolutely festive, like a holiday gourd tree] I'm planning to give away a lot of them to friends and family who want them for craft projects [dry and paint them], bird houses [dry and hang them] and holiday decor [dry and arrange them.]

They're extroverted, assertive plants, that's for sure...and very abundant.

Meanwhile, I may be out of my gourd, but I won't be out of gourds anytime soon.