Jan. 1, 2020

With the New Year comes a time to look three ways: backwards, where we are now, and forward. I started this daily blog on 10/18/2016 as a way to keep in touch with my granddaughter Amelia, a person I love very dearly. Since we live far apart, I wanted to get to know her better and for her to get to know me.

Looking backwards: I’ve written a post most days since then (1,075 posts, as of Dec. 31, 2019). Amelia was in middle school and exploring many areas of life, so I blogged about arts and crafts, poetry, dance, all kinds of music, biology, animals, outer space, puppetry, geography, geology, the environment, food, singing, writing, and much miscellany.

Where we are now: Three years is a long time in the life of a young person, and Amelia’s abilities and strong interests are developing and diversifying as she enters high school. At the same time, my own life—what I read, how I write, when I work and when I relax, where I travel--is changing, too.

Looking forward: It’s time to change this blog! Drawing on my many years of teaching Writing, English, Psychology, and Sociology, I will post once a week, on Saturday, centering on one idea or question. I expect that some posts will be a bit ho-hum (or meh), but hope that some will be challenging in the best way: intriguing and mind-expanding.

Saturday, Jan. 4 will be the first post for this reinvented blog. Please join me then!