A is for April!

Day one of the A-Z Challenge is finally here!

Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out is hosting the A-Z Challenge for the month of April. The challenge is to post everyday in April--excluding Sundays--for a total of 26 posts. Not only that, but the letters of the alphabet governs each post’s theme. For example, today is A, tomorrow B, and so on.

Last I checked there are over 900 bloggers participating in the challenge. There is still time to sign up, so head on over to Tossing It Out and become part of the herd.

One of the reasons I am so excited about A-Z (besides getting to meet new bloggers!) is that it gives me the opportunity to combine two subject I love: writing and history. Specifically, history of the late Roman Republic.

Each of my 26 posts will feature a tidbit of information on life in Rome at around 44 BC. My goal is then to tie that information to the awesomeness of writing. Specifically those things that make writing awe-inspiring and beautiful.

So let’s do it.

A is for April (I know--creative)

Welcome to April! April (Aprilis) is derived from the Latin verb aperire, meaning to open. It refers to the opening of buds on plants and trees--the beginning of spring and the season of possibility.

Roman gardens were aflame with colors and scents. They were fond of herbs to flavor food, such as thyme and mint. A wide variety of flowers were used, including roses, violets, poppy and oleanders. In 44 BC, just as today, each bud from the soil carried with it the beginnings of possibility.

That is what writings is all about--the possibility. What better moment than when the blank page is before us, ready for us to leave our impressions and thoughts. For writers, those possibilities are limitless, constricted only by our imagination and willingness to pour effort onto the page.

So as we enter April and confront the A-Z Challenge, let us embrace the possibilities--meeting new bloggers, reading and writing fun posts, feeling the success of finishing the challenge. Let’s see what we can create!

Tomorrow

B is for Baldness: The Ancient Comb Over

Sources:

Matz, D. Daily Life of the Ancient Romans. Greenwood Press, 2002.