They say you never forget your first. I wrote my first paid piece of writing this past weekend, and it was definitely something I will remember for a long time. I will remember it first because having someone offer me $100 for 600-700 of my words was one of the most thrilling feelings I've ever experienced. I'm not the most humble person when it comes to my craft and my passion:writing. However, having a monetary value placed on each precious word did allow for a feeling of recognition and may have fluffed my pride a bit.
The Urban Farms Bike Tour will live on in my short-term memory due to the sore ass I took home as a souvenier. Biking from East Mt. Airy to North Philadelphia, to West Philadelphia and back over a 6-hour span on a day with temperatures around 100 degrees is not something my body will allow me to forget.
The experience itself was wonderful. Word spread slowly among the group that a dreaded journalist was in their midst. Cyclists began to ride up alongside me and say, "So, you're writing an article?" Everyone was more than willing to share their story, whether it was their family history with the a specific Philadelphia neighborhood, a love of farming or just an interest in biking- often a combination of all of these and more. You can hear all about the ride itself in the article.
Without further ado:
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/neighborhoods/mt-airychestnut-hill-/item/23622-weekend-urban-farm-bike-tour-becomes-test-of-endurance
