I am sitting at this moment in my lovely bride's new office at her work. She is so happy to be back here at MMH and we are both glad to be back in beautiful (to some) West Texas. I have been blogging for a few months, and as we approach Christmas time, I have reached a lull in my job that has allowed me to take a few moments and look back at my blog and the enjoyment it has brought to me.
I know that a blog should probably address itself to one topic or issue, or it should be a blog about one's experiences, etc. For me, I have found that what started out to be a blog about my daily life (based on the assumption that at least one person would read it while I was separated from her while working out of state) turned into my venting post, my way of informing others about the progress of my book (Bailey Black), and about my take on certain issues. And I don't I have specific issues that I blog about, but instead, issues that leap out at me, that catch my attention, are what I blog about. A book I read the other day said that if a blogger were writing to maintain readership, the blogger would find his certain "niche" and fill that niche, leaving the other issues to other bloggers. So far I have not heeded that advice.
Instead, I blogged some about my home life, sometimes about experiences, and sometimes about political issues or current events. Maybe I have not found my niche, or maybe my niche IS "no niche." Regardless, in my blogging experience, I have noted with great interest and great satisfaction, as well as a good deal of humility, that readers who have chosen to glance at my blog include many people from the United States, as well as some people from Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, India, Israel, Croatia, and even Singapore and Taiwan. It is so humbling and at the same time exciting to know that people in those far off places were, at least once, led to read my blog. I hope that most of you who have read this blog have found it worth the minutes of your life that it took to read it.
I am not an expert in any field (history, maybe, if you ask me the right questions) but, like all of us, I can observe or read, then make my own conclusions about things. My occasional rants about Waste Texas are truly heartfelt and hopefully will encourage others to find out for themselves what is going on and maybe, by uniting with other like-minded folks, to to something about the plague, no the disaster, that is about to be visited upon this state. I also found it my pleasure and my honor to, in some small way, pay tribute to a true hero, the Mexican state policeman Rolando Flores Villegas, who gave his life trying to solve, and indeed did solve, the homicide of Texas citizen. Agent Flores was tortured then beheaded after he revealed the identity of two people he intended to arrest for this murder. And I also, through my blog, attempted to let those in Mexico know that people here in the United States were aware of and concerned with the plight of Mexicans who are caught in the middle of a great three-cornered war between two major drug cartels and the Mexican government. No, I did not provide any answers, but perhaps a little encouragement to a people who are literally in deadly danger as they go through their daily lives.
No doubt there will be more issues I will rant about. And there will also be happy events in my life that will be blogged about as well. The turn of events in little Kermit, Texas will be a target for me very shortly. But right now, there is something that is bigger and more important that anything I could possibly say here. Christmas is only two days away. Everywhere there are people doing good for others in keeping with the spirit of the season. I am having so much fun eating Christmas cookies and guessing about what are in certain specially wrapped packages under the tree that I just can't stay very long in the ranting mood. Those things are not forgotten, but Christmas - and the reasons behind it - have moved to front and center stage.
I would like to take this time to wish to all of my readers, especially to my followers, a very Merry Christmas and not only the usual "Happy New Year" but my wish and my dream that the new year holds in store for you a lot of great things, and a lot of adventure. I would like all of my readers to know that having you here day after day reading this little blog is a great Christmas gift for me. And it is a gift that keeps on giving. Such places as Taiwan, Singapore, India, Croatia and Denmark are places that I have often wished I could see first hand, although I doubt I will make it to most of those places. But I am so glad that someone from those exotic lands saw fit to read my blog. I hope you occasionally find it interesting and helpful. To a few of you who are serving in the military in the United States as well as in posts abroad, I wish you a Merry Christmas, and I want you to know that you are remembered here, and your service and sacrifice mean so much to us back at home. I must tell you that I know I could not go through the things you endure. You are all heroes to me.
I am sure that on Christmas Day I will take a rest from blogging, and I am sure most of you will have more important and more dear tasks awaiting you than reading this blog. But I look forward to blogging on after the holidays, and to having each of you here visiting this blog. It is truly an honor and a blessing to me.
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