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Dear Reader,
Ask somebody "Why?" and it could be the perfect story for your entry in this year's Write a Dear Reader Contest. You don't have to be a writer to ask the question, all you need is curiosity. There's always a story behind "Why?". Sometimes you get lucky and you discover the real reason, but even if you don't, turn your story into fiction and write your own ending. Two weeks ago I wrote a column wondering--why--when I was growing up, Mrs. Gerlach, filled her yard with potato plants.
Below is an excerpt from my column:
When I was growing up, Michael Gerlach's parents grew potatoes. Instead of grass and flowers, rows-and-rows of potatoes, in perfect lines, filled their yard. A house surrounded by potatoes. I didn't think twice about it when I was a kid. Who cared that there was a yard filled with potatoes. But suddenly now, as I think back to my schoolmate Michael Gerlach, I am wondering why. Why did his family grow potatoes?
Often there's a little nudge inside my soul when I'm suppose to ask someone why. I guess the reason I don't always ask, is because I can't rationalize any reason for asking, but it's a shame when I waste opportunities in life, with the need to understand the big picture, before I ask why.
When I ask someone why--even when I ask myself--there's a story waiting for me. I learn life lessons from stories. I'm inspired when I listen to stories. Perhaps I won't need to suffer pain first-hand, because I listened to someone else's story of pain. A lesson learned by someone else, given to me as a gift.
And now, this morning, those potatoes growing in Michael's mother's yard--I wish I would have asked her why.
Maybe Michael's mother grew potatoes because they'd keep in the basement all winter long. But weren't potatoes one of the more inexpensive items at the grocery store? Maybe her grandparents and parents grew potatoes, and so it was her turn to carry on tradition?
But I'll never know, because I didn't ask why.
Fortunately for me, Judy Kaiser, who reads at the book club, knows Mrs. Gerlach. So Judy asked the question for me. Below is Mrs. Gerlach's reply.
"Dear Suzanne,
We had a family of six hungry kids, it was the 1950s and we did not have a lot of money, as I was a stay-at-home mom. So we raised most of the vegetables we ate. I canned and froze up to 1,000 quarts every summer; it really helped. My kids loved french fries, so they sorted through all the potatoes and kept the biggest ones out for french fries. I had a double fryer and if I'd fix fries, that's all they wanted to eat. So they helped peel and cut up all the potatoes. Each wanted their own basket of fries, and they'd wait, no matter how long it took to cook them.
My husband Dick, and Wayne Sampson, a farmer who owned an old potato digger, would pull the steel digger behind a tractor. We borrowed the digger in return for giving Wayne a winter supply of potatoes. Our basement was cool enough to keep them most of the winter. When we would dig potatoes in the fall, all the neighborhood kids loved to help us pick them up and bag them; our kids hated it. Jane McCabe sent her kids down to pick up the little potatoes so she could boil them with their jackets, (skins-on) which made wonderful eating. So there you have it, the story of the Gerlach potato patch."
Take care,
Martha Gerlach-Robbins
If you're wondering "Why?" about something, ask for an answer. Then you just might have an entry for the Write a Dear Reader Contest. Win a Kindle, a copy of my book and $50 gift certificates to your favorite bookstore. But the best part is, you're guaranteed to have fun writing. I'm anxiously waiting to read your entry. For all the details, go to: http://tinyurl.com/WADR2011
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com
P.S. Remember, once a week I'll be answering writing questions in my column. Email your question to: [email protected]
* This month's Penguin Classics book is CELESTINA by Fernando De Rojas. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/July11Classics
AUTHORBUZZ: To read more about THICK AS THIEVES, and to enter this author's signed book giveaway, click on the link below, then click on THICK AS THIEVES.
Peter Spiegelman, today's featured author, writes...
A hair-raising heist, an elite crew of thieves, their $100 million target, their untested, unwilling leader, and a possible traitor in their midst. Paranoia hangs heavy as tropical heat, and the only law is Murphy's.
To read more about THICK AS THIEVES goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
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