Carrot-Paced Creativity

The new year has begun, and slowly but surely, new projects for Carrot Condo have been decided and deadlines penciled into my calendar.

Nevertheless, there are so many things I want to create and so little time. Feeling frustrated one day, I grumbled to myself: I should have drawn a slow, slimy slug as my logo instead of a carrot.

But then I remembered one of the first times I grew carrots. I planted them at the same time as some squash. Nothing happened with the carrots, but within a few days, the squash sprouted bright, plump leaves shaped like Mikey Mouse ears.

By the time the squash vines were growing inches per day, the carrots flashed tentative peace signs–two tiny leaves making “V” shapes barely a quarter-inch above the soil.

Even when the carrots finally possessed lush, fuzzy greenery, it was impossible to know if anything edible grew below. The squash produced sage-colored boulders that yielded juicy, bright orange flesh.

Turns out, the carrots had been doing the same work in a much quieter and subtle way. We harvested a bounty of long, lean, sweet carrots, some orange and some purple. They stayed crisp and sweet for months.

While I’d sometimes rather be the squash, showing quick progress, the carrot logo turns out to be even more perfect than I’d thought. Projects here at Carrot Condo are humming along, slowly but surely. Like the carrot underground, I’m not yet sure what some of it will turn into–there’s one new character I can’t wait for you to meet. She just popped out onto my sketchbook one day and has been delighting me ever since. I’m not sure if she’ll be a book or a card or something else.

I’ll have pictures and stories of progress to show you soon, and new products available by May 1st.  So, stay tuned, and thank you for following along with my carrot-paced creativity.