“This writing business. Pencils and what-not.
Over-rated, if you ask me. Silly Stuff. Nothing in it.”
— the prophet Eeyore

Do you remember where you were on April 12, 2009? I do.

I was running in Ahwatukee at the Sun Ray Park. A dog was chasing a ball. I went home and wrote about it.

The next day, I was at the track. Two shot putters were there. I went home and wrote about them.

I’ve been repeating this act constantly since then.

There wasn’t much interest back then. I think I had an average of three readers. But that was OK. Because as time went on, I realized it wasn’t for other people to read; it was for me.

I thought about this the other day. I was killing time waiting for the shot clock to run out at work. Rummaging through old posts is like opening a long-forgotten diary. Races, jobs lost, unfortunate forays into the ladies room.

I’ve written at least a few things every month since then. Some months, a lot (51 posts in December 2011? What the?) In June 2014, I had only one post, but it was about Buster the dog. And that’s why I love margarine. It’s little snapshots of life. I would have totally forgotten about Buster without this little reminder. It brings back happy times, and sad ones, and memories of life.

I’ve come a long way from those early days of three readers. These days I’m up to four readers. But that doesn’t matter. Because I’ve come to realize that blogs aren’t for other people; they’re for the writer.

It’s a little diary without having to worry about keeping track of the tiny key. A time capsule you can open anytime you need to remember that life is a daily adventure. “Life is a movie; write your own ending,” the prophet Kermit once said. The important thing is to never stop writing.

WordPress says I’ve only used up half of my available space and the track still calls me daily, so I’m not done for a while.

Where will the next nine years lead me? Senility and a limp, most likely. I’m looking forward to reading how the story ends.

Thanks for reading. As always, never a cover charge. But sorry, no parking validation.

I wonder what’s up at the Sun Ray Park these days …