For Starters

We're back from the traveling-out-west part of our fall vacation, and now turn our attention to some work around the house. In this phase of vacation 2008 we practice puttering-in- retirement.

Before attacking the work of winterizing, though, I decided to quit thinking about a blog and act to get this venture started.

My parish is reviewing how we communicate and exploring the possibility of more communication via email or the web page, rather than relying so much on snail mail and so forth. This review of course includes The Eagle, our monthly newsletter. One of the major elements of the present newsletter is the piece by me under the same title as this blog. I've written this piece more or less monthly since 1991 and have found that most months I enjoy doing so. I've discovered over the years that it is less an exercise in information sharing and more an exercise in sorting out and sharing some of my thoughts. My sense is that many of my limited readership are quite tolerant or even appreciative of this but that sometimes my style may be too wordy or too conversational (as opposed to conforming to standard conventions of writing) for others. More to the point, it may be that my "piece" binds The Eagle to a certain format. I'm wondering if inclusion of my piece doesn't hinder more full exploration of our possible options in the parish.

And so here I try to kill two birds with one stone. I offer this blog to see if it scratches the itch I have to share my thoughts about the life of the local church or my own faith exploration or what quirky things we found on our last trip, and to see if it opens more possibilities for our communications review. Indeed, it may even model other possibilities, and isn't that what leadership's about?

AND, if it does those things it might suit me long after I no longer have the responsibility to communicate in a parish newsletter.

So I'm about to hit the Publish Post command. I hope you like the This Day in History feature and will bear with me as I learn and tinker more. I do want to learn how to get photos up here - I have great shots of Patty and me at Car Henge in western Nebraska!

Now to the joys of home owning: caulking the cedar trim to keep the ladybugs out, plugging the holes of woodpeckers who come looking for ladybugs, and patching a bit of bad wood on the northeast corner. Carry on...