With blonde bodaciousness, Marilyn Monroe hangs in folklore like the big, juicy tomatoes of my bygone summer garden. I'm talking about the red ones, of course. They're the ones that get all the attention.

But, on my counter sits a stunning dish of green tomatoes, and this gets me to wondering:

“Why overlook the thrill of being under-ripe?”

— The Tipsy Tomato

Don't get me wrong. I still want to get my sexy on. But, now, it's in a green tomato kind of way. That is to say, rather than be pursued, I want to pursue. And, rather than be interesting. I want to be interested.

After all, red tomatoes just get plucked up and eaten, but green tomatoes? They're left free to soak up the sunlight.

The playwright Arthur Miller was a green tomato. He married Marilyn Monroe and she got all the red hot hype, but he's the one who had the enriching life. He pursued the allure of ideas and skills. (Hell, he even pursued the iconic Marilyn, which negates my point I suppose ~ only not really, when I see how Monroe got consumed.)

Any way, as you're probably saying to yourself, "Either way, Tipsy, their relationship ended very badly."

Badly? Yeah. But, it must have been a titillating adventure. Right?

The Undertaking of Adventure

Like a green tomato (Read: under-ripe person), I want to sow unexpected undertakings. The very definition of adventure! I'm not going to pursue a platinum blonde, of course. But, I am going to pursue arousing ideas and skills.

For me, it's the spicy intrigue of trying to grow a horde of towering tomato vines, where my big orange garden cat Tumbles can nap beneath. And, this summer, I did. The vines lit me and the sky on fire. And, Tumbles snoozed like a boozy beach bum in a hammock.

Sure, it ended “badly” with black blight staring me down. Overcrowded vines with little air-circulation are susceptible. (My rookie move). And so, I pulled the plants out entirely. (That's a professional's move.) But, first, I salvaged the green tomatoes.

The Regret of Inaction

Wishing the green ones were big boastful red ones, I could have been discouraged and given up. For that matter, I could have sat the season out altogether. We do that: We sit stuff out. That way we can avoid running into regret and discomfort of any sort. Or, so we think.

It turns out, research shows just the opposite:

“People regret inaction more than choices that turn out badly. ”

Ready or not, flirt with life and life will pucker up. Pursuing more than just Marilyn, Arthur Miller would live a life in and out of depression, in and out of political controversy, and in and out of heydays. Likewise, throughout this summer, my own affair with sixty tomato vines escorted me to similar thrills and throes. I was in, out, up and down. The steaminess of it all!

And, as for the green tomatoes cheering up my kitchen counter, I'm going to roast and store them in the freezer for late winter recipes. Then, when icy temps are getting my girlfriends and me down, the not-so-overlooked green-tomatoes are going to warm our bellies.

Slurping turkey chili, we will remind each other that, sure, we may not fully succeed at what we pursue. But (as we pretty much always knew) it's not about succeeding. It's like Miller wrote:

““Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.” ”

— Arthur Miller

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RECIPES:

Green tomatoes substitute great for the Mexican tomatillo; Google "tomatillo recipes" and a bunch come up, especially turkey chili. You can roast the tomatoes and freeze 'em for use all winter long. Plus, there's these two basic recipes, posted at FB >>