What Sam Wrote: “Like This? Try That!”

Such a cool concept for the opening graphic.

I’m spoiled. Some freelance writers have to hustle to get enough assignments to make a living, and by necessity must accept almost any assignment that pays.

I am [tooting my own horn here] a great writer — but I also work with articles all day long. Sometimes the last thing I want to do after reading and rewriting all day is write and rewrite all night. So I’m selective in the assignments I agree to take on. But the ones that come from my suggestions? I’m totally in for.

What Sam Wrote: Summer Fruits

I always love the way these pieces turn out looking.

Last year when I was brainstorming ideas with the editor of So Healthy for their regularly occurring food feature, I mentioned that I was getting tired of reading (and writing) about “duty food” — the foods you know you should be eating because of their nutritional value, but … well, let’s put it this way: At no point in my 40-plus years have I ever thought, “You know what sounds really good tonight? Farro and figs.” (And yet it exists as a dish that people even order in restaurants.) “Just once, I’d like to be able to write about foods that people want to eat, instead of foods they should eat,” I said. “What if I explored some that are both?”

They came, they sawed, they conquered

At least we had that glorious day in March together.

A few months ago, one of our neighbors chopped down their tree. It was the largest one on the block, dwarfing everything around it. How tall? I happened to capture it in the photo above, which I texted my sister last March to taunt her about Phoenix’s amazing winter weather while I was lazing about in the back yard. The orange trees that make up the hedge in the foreground are about 15 feet high; meanwhile, the tree stood a good half-block past them.