A long, long time ago, in a world before X, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, or even MySpace, this blog came into being. It started as a travel journal to document a trip across country to Samish Island, Washington, then evolved into a personal journal. The blog entries were short and were just my personal observations of random things, hence the name. Social media took over most of that function, so this became a place where I wrote longer, more deeply researched articles.
The problem is that sometimes I just plain run out of steam and don’t keep up with the site on a regular basis. I do this with other journals, too. I’ve kept an off and on handwritten journal for many years, but it has huge gaps. I like the app Day One and have started using that more consistently, but even there I’ve had times I’ve missed. Day One and WordPress are owned by the same company. I wish there were an easy way to publish from Day One to WordPress.
I’m thinking about taking this blog back to it’s original purpose…somewhat. Instead of making everything about well-researched history, there will be a quite a few regular updates that are much shorter. After all, when I’ve paddled the same stretch of the Edisto, how many times can I write about it? There is some repetition.
That being said, here’s what’s been going on lately…
We are back on Samish Island. We drove out in late August so that Laura wouldn’t be on the East Coast when Furman started back with its fall term. She wanted to be fully retired and away from things. Our departure was delayed because of plumbing issues with our Greenville house. We have to be back by at least Fuman Homecoming in October because the Chemistry Department is throwing a big reception for her. In actuality, we’ll only be out here for a few more days before heading back. The cats made the trip with us, and they have done very well. When we return they will have traveled the equivalent of circling the earth.
There’s been music…lots of music. I’ve played in Scottish sessions, Irish sessions, an Old Time session, and even in a new ukulele session. I attended the Bellingham Celtic Festival and attended a couple of workshops.
I added to my instrument inventory up here so that I wouldn’t have to haul anything across country. I found a nice Yamaha keyboard at a flea market for dirt cheap.
I bought an inexpensive ukulele so that I could participate in groups up here
My best find, though, was a Kent banjo at the Skagit County Garage Sale. This is where I found my Alvarez guitar some years ago. The banjo is an open-back and was made sometime in the 1960s. It was reconditioned by the local music store, Hugo Helmer, just recently and has new strings and a new bridge. It plays very well, has a great tone, and stays in tune.
We took a ferry trip. It was supposed to be to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, but somehow we wound up on the Orcas Island Ferry. It was still a nice trip. We also took a trip down to Coos Bay, Oregon to see Laura’s Aunt Ellen. When we arrive there were high surf warnings, so we headed down to Cape Arago to watch the large waves.
That’s about it for now. I’m still considering how I want to proceed with the blog, but my motto has always been to never let the documentation of life to interfere with life itself.
Life, the universe, and everything.
Have enjoyed the blog for several years now and look forward to future posts, in whatever shape they may take!
As a long time follower, I’m glad to see the blog is not going away. Safe travels home.