Getting started

I have always enjoyed writing, for myself and for others, and the past few years I've begun to appreciate the art of blogging, too. For several months I've meant to start my own, and now that it's starting to feel like fall, I'm finding my creativity again (after the zapping heat of summer) and here we are.

There are several motives - a.) to keep in better touch with the people I love b.) to branch out and explore this incredibly inspiring world of blogs and c.) to keep myself motivated, focused and challenged. And besides, myspace has become too dark and facebook is too bright (aka not private enough for such postings as I intend here). I decided on sassafras as a title as it is my family nickname, and I've always loved the sassafras tree.

The wiki definition of a sassafras tree is as follows:

Sassafras is a genus of three species of deciduous trees in the family Lauraceae, native to eastern North America and eastern Asia.

Sassafras trees grow from 15–35 m (50–120 feet) tall and 70–150 cm (2.5–6 feet) in diameter, with many slender branches, and smooth, orange-brown bark. The bark of the mature trunk is thick, red-brown, and deeply furrowed. The wood is light, soft, weak, and brittle. All parts of the plants are very fragrant. The species are unusual in having three distinct leaf patterns on the same plant, unlobed oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped), and trilobed. The young leaves and twigs are quite mucilaginous, and produce a scent similar to lemons when crushed. The tiny, yellow flowers are five-petaled and bloom in the spring.

The name "Sassafras," applied by the botanist Nicolas Monardes in the sixteenth century, is said to be a corruption of the Spanish word for saxifrage.

I identify with this tree - soaring height, deeply furrowed, the smell of lemons . . . I remember being a little girl and my dad would pluck a sassafras leaf for me to chew on while we walked through the woods. And it really does taste like a very tangy lemon. It's a perfect little moment of clarity, as I hope this blog will be!