On Being a Pomegranate



Pomegranate Sugar Bowl from Tulumba.com

What happens when you're not an apple or an orange? Fellow blogger (aka Australian expat in Greece) Jessica Bell, was contemplating "home" when I came up with the answer. Be a Pomegranate!

(I like pomegranates. Jessica said she'd be a pomegranate with me. Anyone else?)

American expats, or any expats, around the world know what I mean. Once you live someplace else, you pick up little things. Things that make people here look at you like you have three heads and ask you where you're from...because your accent isn't something anyone can place....

...because that place where you lived, that you loved, became a part of who you are. And yet, you never blended in with the locals either. You were always the "American" neighbor, wife, friend. (Check out Katie and her giant jar of Jiff peanut butter in France, or any of her other Living in France topics. Really cute stuff in there!)

To top that off, I'm a writer. Which means I live in an alternate universe, wherever I am. So Fridays from now on, I'm going to just be myself. Worry about things like comma splices, or the correct way to eat an artichoke in Damascus. (There isn't one, I don't think...) It's not going to be easy, because I always need something to write about, but I'll give it a shot and see what happens!

And here I have a spot for a little giftiness. ('Tis the season!)

I've been so busy working on the MS and blogging my little bloggery heart out and I've been a MISERABLE blog commentor. I literally haven't visited more than ten blogs in a week. Like I said, I stink. But some followers (Jules, LTM, OJ Gonzalez-Caserez, Old Kitty (& Charlie), Christopher, Golden Eagle, Hart, Carolyn V., Alesa and Ayak) are always commenting here, regardless of my lack of reciprocity. I want to give you guys a huge virtual hug for being such great blogger friends. So I'm giving you a little mwah from me:

Thanks to all my occasional commenters too, even the stalkers!

On another unrelated topic:  Remember this guy?

Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ (Kivan), of Turkish Soap Opera fame :Ask-i-Memnu, Gumus, etc....just picked up the ELLE Turkey Style Award for Best Male Actor, 2010. Congratulations to him on that!

Think I'll go have one of these:

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Pomegranates

Image via WikipediaEverybody who knows me knows that I've always loved pomegranates. They're trendy right now with the pomegranate martini, Pom and all the anti-oxidant drinks you can think of, and of course there's Grenadine, but I love them for their shape and saturated color.

Every fall I buy some for my holiday decor. The neighbor at our mountain house in Turkey has one in her yard and I've always wanted to have one.  Even the mini fruits add to my floral displays.

The pomegranate has tons of meanings too. (Right up my alley, hey!)

• Memory of good
• Fertility -  because of all the seeds. Greek orthodox followers use them at celebrations for good luck.
• Actual apple from Eden - yes the one Eve gave Adam. (Take that, Edward Cullen.)
• Associated with the Greek goddess Hera and the Hindu earth goddess Bhoomidevi 
• Jewish symbol of righteousness

The pomegranate also appears in heraldic art in many countries, perhaps most famously in Granada, Spain. In Turkey, it is especially associated with the city of Side. Ancient coins from the town embossed with pomegranates have linked the city to the story of Orion and that myth goes even further back to Isis and Osiris. The list goes on and on... We could be here all day, but I got distracted by the Pom commercial :D

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• Pomegranate (ask.metafilter.com)