Skip to content

Random Connections

A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Photos
  • Resources
  • Other Voices
  • Post Archives
  • Home
  • Miscellaneous
  • Catching Up and Rethinking My Purpose

Catching Up and Rethinking My Purpose

Posted on October 2, 2023October 2, 2023 By Tom 3 Comments on Catching Up and Rethinking My Purpose
Miscellaneous, Music, Travel

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.

Tags: Skagit Valley Travel Washington State

Post navigation

❮ Previous Post: Purple Martins on Lake Murray
Next Post: Goodbye, Judy ❯

3 thoughts on “Catching Up and Rethinking My Purpose”

  1. Ken Cothran says:
    October 2, 2023 at 10:54 pm

    Life, the universe, and everything.

    Reply
  2. Christen says:
    October 3, 2023 at 5:30 pm

    Have enjoyed the blog for several years now and look forward to future posts, in whatever shape they may take!

    Reply
  3. David Fridy says:
    October 3, 2023 at 9:58 pm

    As a long time follower, I’m glad to see the blog is not going away. Safe travels home.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

  • EdTech (200)
  • Entertainment (202)
  • Family (122)
  • Gear (115)
  • General Technology (99)
  • Geocaching and Maps (208)
  • History and Genealogy (266)
  • Internet (144)
  • Local (453)
  • Miscellaneous (553)
  • Music (201)
  • Paddling (255)
  • Photography (780)
  • Podcast (6)
  • Rambling (227)
  • Rants (161)
  • Recipes (35)
  • Religion (48)
  • Restaurants (165)
  • Science (48)
  • Things Overheard (29)
  • Travel (413)
  • Uncategorized (133)
  • Washington Sabbatical (113)
  • Weirdness (60)

Recent Posts

  • Missed Connections
  • Reconsidering Journaling and New Options
  • Jeremiah Jones
  • Cheap Grits
  • Jamming at the Rabbit Hole

Recent Comments

  • Jerome Mann on Update on Ghost Town Research
  • Jerome on Update on Ghost Town Research
  • John Vaughn on The Allen Parkins Project
  • TopHatJack on In Search of the Road Builder
  • Micheal Andrew Jacks on Exploring Jacks Township

Tags

blogging cemetery Christmas Columbia Edisto River edtech Entertainment family Flickr Florida Furman Furman University gear Georgia geotagging Ghost Town Ghost Towns Google Earth Google Maps GPS Greenville Greenville Chorale history Instructional Technology kayaking Lake Jocassee LCU Lowcountry Unfiltered maps Music North Carolina Paddling Photography rambling restaurant Restaurants review singing social networking South Carolina time-lapse Travel video Washington Washington State
December 2023
S M T W T F S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  
« Nov    

Copyright © 2023 Random Connections.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown