Monday, June 22, 2009

THE YEAR THAT WAS


Tomorrow, June 23rd, I'll be turning 47. Ok not bad if you consider that life begins at 40.
In retrospect, my 46th year wasn't a bad year at all. As a matter of fact, heaps of blessings came in my way which I initially didn't perceive it as such. Work wise, it was a great year with a few challenges along the way. Health wise, I can consider myself in pink health except for a few asthma attacks, allergy rhinitis and bouts of severe dysmenorrheic cramps sans any signs of recurring pneumonia, thankfully.

This year, opened a wide door for me to pursue my personal passion for writing. My non-fiction book has finally reached the end of its 2nd draft. Indeed, time flies like an arrow.
I remembered how I grappled with all the ideas I could come up with to form my outline in the midst of my sunbathing session during my summer break. Burning with enthusiasm, I inched writing chapters or more like few pages every night after a hard day's work, sleepless nights or sometimes missing my regular shopping dates to be with my newly found best friends-my monitor and keyboard.

At a certain point in February, I felt that I needed a break from writing ideas related to my teaching profession for my book. Then I discovered a romance short story writing contest which I exuberantly joined. The competition is based on the number of votes of readers instead of the merits of your writing. Though it looked kind of foxy to me but what the heck, I thought, I joined just the same. Fortunately, my entry won the grand prize. And I got an unexpected $250 prize for that. Not bad for a first time short story writer, huh?

My story? It's entitled " Winter Dream." Honestly, I didn't plan out the plot. Believe it or not, the ideas just flashed in my mind while I was browsing through a news about a winter storm that got passengers stranded at the Madrid International Airport. Not only because of my winning experience but the feedbacks of my friends who enjoyed reading the story plot brought a lot of confidence and assurance that I could pull off a non-fiction chick lit style novel one day ( this year I plan.)

More than all of these salient colorful events of my year, the one that I loved and enjoyed tremendously is my glaring passion for cherry picking. Thankfully, the school where I work has beautiful cherry trees with sturdy branches bearing abundant cherry fruits that I devoured like being stranded in an island without food except cherries.

It was fun picking cherries-poking the fruits with a broomstick, using a ladder and pulling the sagging branches to reach for the maroon over ripe ones became my short obsession. Just like cherry picking, my 46th year was no different from that. With the challenges that I struggled during the year, I did everything to make things happen to rise above the hurdles just like everyone. In the end, a special bonus awaited for me-a bowl full or light, dark red and maroon over ripe soft sweet cherries that I delightfully nibbled under the tree.

1 comment:

Eric of BlogDe Manila(Philippine Blog) said...

Belated Happy Birthday!...when are you going to visit Pinas?