Seeds (the long awaited sequel to Carrots)

What? You didn't know you were waiting? 

I meant to write this over a week ago, but Blogger and I haven't been getting along. Your responses to Carrots made me think how it's easier for us to see things that we're struggling with than it is to see our improvement. Life has so many ups and downs. A couple of weeks ago, my favorite editor sent me a rejection for a poem that I still really like. Today, I got one of these (hint: they don't reject people with their own envelopes) from her. I'll have a poem in next January's issue of Highlights High Five.

 This post is mostly about writing and gardening, but I bet you have other strengths as well. For randomness, I hadn't made anything out of balloons for a couple of years, but when I needed one (or three), I found I could still twist a mean octopus. What are your strengths or hobbies, and how do they contribute to your happiness and, if you're a writer, your writing?

  

I like to grow my own herbs, and the last few years, I've been planting cilantro/coriander and poppies from seeds I've saved from my plants. Every year I've done this, my plants have grown better and produced more seed, and I've learned things without reading about them first (shocking, I know).

  Cilantro/coriander attracts ladybugs.

The kind of poppy seed you use in breads has different colored flowers.

*Also, I should apply lotion before taking pics of my hands ;)

But most of mine have been purple.

As I've written, revised and critiqued for other people, I've learned things as well. For instance, an early draft might be derivative, and then with each consecutive draft, the writer imbues their story with more of their voice and whatever vision prompted them to start writing in the first place. Revising makes a good story better.

So, I'm saving seeds for stronger plants and revising for better stories. I can see improvement. Where do you see improvement? 

And if you'd like to be entered in a drawing for coriander or poppy seed, just let me know in the comments by next Thursday. They're organic, and you can use them in your kitchen, if you don't want to plant them.