Meet the Author

Here’s a selfie I took on the day that I wrote my first post. I’m not an avid biker, but there is a great bike trail at Huntington Beach State Park.

Adjectives swim as I reflect on the questions: who am I? why am I here? Graying. Overweight. Disorganized. Optimistic. Rueful. Although I could censor this self-description, I am using the first words that came to mind because they seem honest. But this isn’t how I should present myself to strangers–which raises another question: am I ready to be here, exposing the gritty workings of my mind? Is writing merely a brain dump for me, and, if so, is there a reason for me to be blogging?

This summer, I stumbled upon blogging.  Wanting to follow someone else’s blog, I ended up creating a blog for myself (it helped that we were on vacation at the time). But when the blogger I was following stopped writing, I didn’t stop.  Why not, I wondered?

A couple of days after setting up my blog, I took this picture of the sun rising at Litchfield By-the-Sea. A metaphor for blogging? Time will tell!

I’ve been writing privately on another website for a couple of years. Despite my sporadic nature, I recently passed the milestone of 100,000 words. Private writing is inherently worthwhile, but is it time for me to put a toe into cyberspace? One drawback to my private posts is that I never edit them; sometimes I pursue a promising line of thought, but the words never leave my sanctum. Although I am continuing to journal privately, an occasional foray into the public eye might be good for me (and for my writing, which has become all too stream-of-consciousness lately).

I’d also like to think that something I have posted could improve or enlighten someone else’s day (in a very small way). During my grad school days, I began to feel that there wasn’t a reason for anyone to write anything, ever again: hasn’t it all been said, over and over? Yet along came J. K. Rowling, boldly presenting the world with a lovable and complex young hero, just when I had thought no one could come up with anything new. Aspects of the Harry Potter series are undoubtedly derivative, but the sum–the sum has touched thousands of readers, old and young alike.

The last blueberries of last summer on a bush at Craggy Gardens, off the Blue Ridge Parkway

Unlike Rowling, I’m not a writer of fiction, and my pontificating days are mostly over; if I have any profound thoughts, I’ll post them elsewhere. Still, I love traveling, whether it’s a cross-country journey or a day trip to pick blueberries in the mountains. Although I am an uneducated amateur, I also enjoy taking pictures. Rather than cluttering up my Facebook page with another photo album that few will ever view (thanks, Dad!), I will try to chronicle the occasional outing here, to capture the experience for others besides myself.

Flowers by a fountain at Fearrington House

I don’t plan to post regularly. For that reason, I am unlikely to continue with the Blogging 101 assignments: today I began to contemplate what a month of blogging assignments might do to my daily schedule. Besides managing a home, I am homeschooling a young lad (I should be giving him a piano lesson at this moment). But I’m here, and this first challenge has helped me figure out why.