Thursday, September 25, 2008

Why the title?

| | 5 comments
Welcome to my blog. Pull up a chair, or a pillow, or a piece of log, and join me in this conversation about rural life and coming home again. This blog is a means for me to share the experiences of country life with others. Or maybe nobody. It doesn't really matter to me if anyone reads it or not, as the joy is in the writing. Since I am a "newbie" at this, I'm sure I'll make some mistakes while I figure out how to post, format, and edit, and hopefully add some pics. I hope you will all be patient with me and help me along, since I know many of you are old hats at this stuff. So where to begin? My girlfriend Julia (who has a delightful store and blog on Etsy, called Red Otter said to me recently, "You should write a blog." And I thought, Yeah, sure, but when would I have the time? I have a full-time job, a husband, a house, a dog, a cat (maybe two cats now, more on that later), an alpaca, and a teenager for crying out loud - seems I can't hardly even find the time to read or create or nap or play. But the remark stuck with me. I have already started on a book about my journey raising Ciara these last 18 years. I even have a little reminder that pops up in my Outlook calendar reminding me to set aside a few minutes to write every day. If I can't squeeze an entire book out just yet, I should certainly be able to post a few blog entries at the very least. Heck, I know people with more children than I have who post regularly! (For example, my friends the Stutemans blog and adorable kid pictures here). Once her idea started to gel in my brain, I started coming up with all kinds of blog entry ideas. For example, why the title of this blog? I tried writing it down in as short a piece as I could muster - it turned into 1400 words, two pages single spaced! Yikes, nobody will ever read that! So here it is in a very small nutshell (possibly an acorn shell, as we have thousands of them littering the grounds around this house): I was born and raised in the country, just outside of a small town, on the shore of Lake Superior. I moved into a city (Duluth) to attend college, where I ended up staying for 18 years. More on those adventures in my first book. Several years ago my husband was offered a job in an even bigger city, Minneapolis. We settled into southern suburb, Burnsville. Nice place, but definitely not the country. In January, I bought an alpaca (more on this later, too). She lives on a farm 75 minutes away from Bursnville. So when Ciara finished up high school, we all decided it was high time to move back to the country. Whew, aren't you glad you didn't get the 1400 word version of that? I grew up believing I would always live in the country. It was the only place I ever felt totally at ease, at home, at peace. It took a very long time, two decades in fact, but I am back now. I have come home. Blessings -

5 comments:

Julia said...

Hurray! I have goosebumps :) You did the hardest part, you actually opened up an account and posted your first entry. The rest will be the joy of discovery! It's amazing what a blog can do sometimes. It focuses your attention for a few moments a day!

I'm so, so glad you started! :)

Beth said...

Well, I obsessively read your blog from end to beginning. And I have to say, you Rock! Witty, hilarious, informative, and heartbreaking, loved them all! I can't wait to read more!

Victoria Strauser said...

Beth you have just made my day! I get so few comments from my readers that sometime I wonder why I still write... then something happens like your comment and I know I need to keep on writing! Thank you for visiting!

Beth said...

You are so welcome, I would have commented more, but I did not want you to think I was too crazy:) I currently have three chickens and I keep showing my husband all the cool things PB constructs for yalls chickens, and he is ready to strangle me! So please, keep posting!

Victoria Strauser said...

I have one in progress right now! :)

 
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