Welcome to a new year, a fresh start, yet another do-over, and one more clean slate. Even though we are deep into the season that I dislike the most, I am kind of partial to January 1st each year. It's a good reminder to me and to us all that life continues on. May this be a year filled with God's grace, peace, and goodness.
This is the 897th blog post that I have written since this whole thing began back in May of 2011. I never, ever intended for it to go this far. I'm not sure that I would have started it had I known that it would. I was getting ready to go on the Bike Across Kansas that very summer and all that I wanted to do was to set up some type of forum where I could keep in contact with my family back in Hutchinson. My plan was to utilize it for 4 weeks and then take it down, never to write again.
Things kind of changed.
My first posts were very short and sweet. They were to the point with few pictures included. In fact, the very first post that I made on Thursday, May 19th of 2011 looked like this.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Bucket List Item #1-Ride the Bike Across Kansas from start to finish
Hey everyone! Welcome to my first-ever blog! This summer, June 4-11, I will be riding the Bike Across Kansas and thus fulfilling item #1 on the "Miller Bucket List". I'll be using this blog to hopefully update my family and friends as to my progress each day.
This has been a dream of mine since the summer of 1987. Now, at age 55, it's "now or never" for me. My hopes are that keeping track of my journey, day by day, will empower me to stay the course and finish with the rest of the 800 or more riders that will be joining me for the week.
As of this writing, June 4th is two weeks away. Much has yet to be done in preparation for my leaving~many more miles to be ridden. But I look forward to this journey and am anxious to share what happens to me with all of you.
Stay tuned!
896 posts ago, well that's how it began. After the Bike Across Kansas was over, I just kept writing. Throughout the course of the last going on 5 years now, I've written a lot of words. I have found that writing is very therapeutic to me. It helps me handle the stressors that life throws at us all. It helps to battle occasional bouts of depression. Most of all, when my time on this earth is through it will leave a diary of sorts for my children and grandchildren to remember me by. It's kind of one of those "win-win" situations.
And all it costs is a little time.
This year I'm teaching the art of writing to students here in Texas. Sometimes I share this blog with them during class and it's actually fun to use it as a teaching tool. They have learned a lot of things about me this way and one of those things is that their teacher makes mistakes in her writing.
Just like they do.
My words will never make the best seller list on the New York Times but that doesn't even matter to me. It is not the reason I write. When I'm asked how long I will continue to do this, my answer is always the same.
"I will write until there are no more words left to say."
Today on this first day of a brand new year, my message is to you my dear friends and family. Thank you for being my friend and for caring enough about me to check in from time to time. We are all spread out in this great big world of ours but with the touch a computer key, it's as if we are all together once again and you know what?
I kind of like it that way.
For these many good memories, I do give thanks.
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