Happy anniversary to this blog...

My first post on this blog was 4 years ago today. I normally don’t go back and reread what I have written, but I did look at some of those earlier posts to get a feel for what I was writing about then. I see that I have a tendency to repeat myself. Toward the end of November 2004, I wrote about my neighbor Tony and his dog Chance when he brought us some deer meat.

...I was so touched by his kindness and generosity. I thought Tony was a rather scary guy when he and his girlfriend first moved in. He is big, he has tattoos, he is missing teeth, he rode a Harley (until he had to sell it to pay for cancer treatment), he looks mean; but, like his huge American bulldog (who is a sweetheart and I’ll write about her eventually), he has a heart of gold.

I did eventually write about Chance, earlier this month in fact.

On October 22, 2004, I told how Richard...

...found a cockroach last night and fed it to the spider that has spun a web close to the light by the closet. It has been there all summer, waiting patiently for a fly or moth to come to the light and get snared. He or she seemed very appreciate of the food...

and in a few days there will be another post about spiders.

The seed that later germinated into this blog is found in this rather grubby journal.

Now, I have sporadically written in journals since my high school and college days in the 1960s. Back then I usually only wrote when I was upset or angry, so it isn’t very helpful for me to go back and read these old journals. All it does is bring back memories of bad things I had forgotten. I don't write in them very much these days. If I am upset about something now, I try to offer it up to God and let it go.


This particular journal doesn’t contain too many of the details of daily life because the pages are not lined. I have a hard enough time writing legibly when there are lines, and when there aren’t lines, well it really is a mess. So, instead I have mainly used it note bits and pieces of information that might be useful on occasion, or to keep track of stuff of interest.

In 1993 and 1994, I monitored the warts that were growing on my hands, just out of curiosity to see how they waxed and waned.


I have had an ongoing problem with warts since the late 1960s. I have scars on my hands from warts that were removed. I later learned that warts usually go away by themselves. At the moment, I am wart free.

I taped down a map the dentist drew on how to get to the wonderful restaurant he recommended at the Rockbridge Trout Farm so I wouldn't lose it. We did have dinner there (mine was Trout Almandine). It was delicious.

If ideas for a blog topic pop into my head, I write them down before I forget. Sometimes I actually do write about them on the blog, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I can read what I have written, sometimes it takes a minute to figure it out. I was going to complain about items "made in China," but I changed my mind....

If I come across a sentence or phrase in a book that I find witty or clever or profound, I write that down too.

I've also taped down funny things I've seen in the newspaper, such as this advertisement for puppies with an amusing, obviously unintentional mistake. One might wonder what the father might have been if he wasn't also a dog. They probably meant to say father is also a purebred dog.

A picture of a hairstyle I particularly liked. She happens to be our representative in Congress.

I also found a note that I wrote on January 1 1994:

Richard accuses me of not being “productive...”

...because I am always reading books...

...or playing Zentris...

Zentris was an incredibly addictive game. I would start a game and look up and find 2 hours had passed. I remember reading a study that showed that many women were playing Zentris as a stress reliever.

...and the house is messy. He has a point. So I must endeavor to be more balanced. Brenda said in a letter that I should write about my life “experiences.” So I think I will start to write a book. We’ll just see what happens.

A few things have changed since then. Brenda died. I think she would have liked this blog. I haven’t played Zentris in years. The house isn’t quite as messy as it was; for example, instead of leaving my clothes from the night before laying on the floor, I have learned to pick them up in the morning. I still read books, but it takes me a little longer now to finish one.

As it turned out I did not start writing a book about my life experiences then, but I did eventually start writing this blog... 4 years later.