Salix Babylonica

Welcome to my blog! I have finally taken the plunge and created this, as a place where I can empty the contents of my head and not have to store them on my laptop. I hope you gain some enjoyment from perusing my ramblings!

So why Salix Babylonica? The simple answer to that question would be because Blogger asked me for a name for this blog. As any writer will tell you, the name of any novel that they write is frequently the last thing that they think of; how can you possibly name something that doesn’t exist yet? Similarly (although I would never compare myself to a novelist), I haven’t written an entry into this blog yet, so I don’t really know how it will take shape or what it will contain. I intend to write about things that inspire me or that make me angry, as I find that these are the things that make me want to write.

This only partly answers the first question though. Salix Babylonica is the Latin genus of the Weeping Willow, a tree that I have always thought to be very beautiful. There was one growing on a playing field near the house where I grew up and I always used to walk past it with Mum when I was little. I always imagined that it would be a great place to hide because the branches swept down almost to the ground, and yet you could part them like a curtain and walk behind the natural screen that they created.

The name ‘Weeping Willow’ is also evocative. The alliteration of the words sounds harmonious (with the further repetition of the w at the end enhancing the effect) but also implies sadness and longing. It makes me think of memories, time past that, for whatever reason, seemed more idyllic and carefree than my grown-up life does now. That’s not to say that I am unhappy with my life now, such an assumption would be far from the truth; it’s just that sometimes I think I long for those simpler days of childhood. As this is a blog in which I would seek to retain my memories and impressions of things, I would like to think that the Weeping Willow is an appropriate metaphor for memories of all types.

The final point is something that I didn’t even realise until after I’d chosen the name. I looked up the Latin genus of Willow because I’d already had the idea of Weeping Willow in my mind but didn’t know what its Latin genus was before today. Salix has more than a passing resemblance to my own first name (Alex), and it therefore seems curiously apposite that I chose such a word to represent the work that I intend to create in future. I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I intend to enjoy writing it!

(Incidentally, the Babylonica part doesn’t particularly signify anything to me on its own; I merely thought that the combination of the two words was euphonic.)