All posts by Sonja Hakala

I have been a professional writer since 1987. I've written for newspapers, magazines, worked in the book publishing industry, and published novels and non-fiction books. In addition, I've guided numerous authors through the process of independent publishing, and offer workshops in that same vein. I'm the founder of the Parkinson's Comfort Project and over the course of six years, we gathered and gave away over 500 handmade quilts to people with Parkinson's disease.
Carding Chronicles

Summer Eating

I recently met a woman at the eating table of a potluck gathering who told me she didn’t like fruit.

Blueberries from Moore's Orchard in Pomfret, VT
Blueberries from Moore’s Orchard in Pomfret, VT

I went into shock.

Not like fruit? You might as well say you don’t like Peter Pan or puppies or crisp fall days when the foliage is at peak.

Well, she added (probably sensing my deep sense of shock) except watermelon.

Sheesh.

Strawberries just picked with their glowing red hearts? Pennsylvania peaches from the Lebanon Coop? Blueberries straight from the bush at Moore’s Orchard?

But it seems there are such people in the world. Yesterday, I was at a meeting at a restaurant seated next to this really nice guy who ordered a hamburger “with no pink and no green.”

“No green? As in no lettuce?”

“Right. And no salad, no beans, no zucchini, no spinach.”

I nearly fainted.

So I ordered the biggest, greenest salad on the menu. And then when I got home, we headed up the hill to pick blueberries at Moore’s Orchard in Pomfret.

And then I felt much better.

I do believe in fairies. I do I do I do.