“Treat every object you own as if it had feelings. Be especially careful with objects you are throwing away.” Prompt #15 by Ruth Ozeki in the Preface to Choices (Borderline Books, 2016)

When topic anxiety assails me, my go-to strategy is The Word, not hallowed like The Bible, but right up there in my creativity-triggering tool kit. Citrus fruits (oranges, limes, mandarins, lemons) are segmented, have juicy flesh and waxy rinds. They command the nose’s attention, unless one suffers from anosmia, the inability to smell.

Right this minute, I am considering a lemon hanging from a tree in the backyard of my niece’s home in Corona, California, a nicely alliterative A-Z blog-friendly town.

I hadn’t planned to use all the Ruth Ozeki prompts referred to in my guest blog at Redwheelbarrowwriters.com, but I’m returning to them. I like the structure they offer, especially this one. Treat every object you own as if it had feelings. Be especially careful with objects you are throwing away

I do not own this lemon, so it is not mine to pick or throw away. The first thing to do is to give it a name and a gender: Surviva. She has a companionable relationship to the palm tree next to it—excellent conversation, protection from the sun––and enjoys looking after the cluster of younger step-lemons living on adjacent branches.

At first I tried to photograph Surviva from her best side, but she said it was okay to show her bruises because they made her rind stronger, the wax continues its repellency.

She had survived insistent droughts, wind and pests. I wish I’d met Surviva before wrote my A (for Appearances) blog. I could have learned something about exposing wrinkles, bruises, and staying steadfast in any weather.

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