Lost post recovered ! — Originally posted September 7, 2007 — Recovered from Internet Archive.
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My blogging has evolved a bit since this piece was posted back in September of 2007 — and my climate blogs are not included in the picture as I am moving on to other things.

I’m finding that as this blog develops — and I develop along with it — that I am enjoying writing and that sometimes the words flow really well.

When words are flowing really well, some folks have the tendency to ramble on and on and on and… well, you know.

I try not to do that. Often times, a short succinct article is more effective and has a better result than longer articles.

A long article has it’s place. It’s good for detailed explanations, in-depth reporting or descriptions, and, sometimes, even humor  or satire. However, it needs to flow and generally be well organized, not ramble on and on and on and… well, you know.

Speaking of which — I think I’m going to keep this short and ramble on… to something else!

© 2007 Mike Goad

My new blog, Diaries of the Civil War, is moving along nicely.  I’ve been tweaking, a little bit at a time on the format and styling.  It’s still a “plain Jane” blog, but I’ve figured out how to format the text so that it has more of a book look, with indented first lines and a reduced space between paragraphs.  There are currently 335 posts, with 314 of them scheduled for future publication.  I’ve created a website for background reference material.  It’s called Rebellion Documents.

The actual splintering of the Union didn’t occur until November, 1860 and the conflict didn’t start until the firing on Fort Sumter in April, 1861.  The idea behind the blog is to post material — day by day — from the corresponding day 150 years ago.  While November is still a ways away, this is one time I don’t want to procrastinate.  I have a number of documents identified for use and have a spreadsheet showing when each one starts.  This is already helping me with planning and implementation.  A few of the documents contain relevant material from before the war and I’ll be posting them as I get to to them — and, later, I’ll change the posted date to 150 years after the original date so that posts are sequenced correctly.

Diaries of the Civil War will likely continue for some period after the end of the war.  The diary I am working with now has some interesting material that deals with the aftermath of the war.  The following is scheduled to be published June 9, 2015.  June 9, 1865, was about 2 months after the end of the war.

June 9th, 1865.—Nellie went away today and the parting between her and Sister Mag was pitiful. She has nursed Eddie all his life and for three weeks now, the three weeks Sister Mag has been so ill, she has been almost constantly at her side, while I took care of Eddie. He is sorely distressed but it is as nothing compared to his mother’s grief at giving her up.

Nellie knelt on the floor and put her arms about sister, both were sobbing and both faces were wet with tears.

“I wouldn’t leave you Miss Mag,” she gasped out, “but my husband says I got ter go. He says if I don’t go with him now I shant never come and he says I b’longs ter him now an’ so I’ll have ter go.”

“Can’t you persuade him to stay here with you, Nellie?” pleaded the almost heart-broken mistress, but no, he did not like country life, he had work in the iron foundry and would not give it up.

From the porch, just outside, Emperor Dulan’s loud voice was heard, “Come on, Nellie—I shore is tired waiting.”

He was evidently impatient and she could stay no longer.

“God bless you, Miss Mag, God bless Marse Amos an’ de sweet chillun an’, over everything else, may the Lord bless Marse Ned an’ Mis’ Patsey.”

Another link broken and it is only the beginning of the end. I hope Emperor will be kinder than he sounds. I love Nellie, myself. She has been Sister Mag’s maid for years, they grew up together, she has nursed the children and has been friend as well as servant.

I wonder what Aunt Harriet Beecher Stowe would think of the farewell of this morning? We were afraid the excitement would be too much for our dear invalid, but she is sleeping quietly; has been ever since she ate her very light luncheon at twelve o’clock. Adeline does not give us dinner until three o’clock, sometimes later, but she is such a good cook that nobody feels like finding fault with the hour.

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For the most part, we have found the other visitors to Yellowstone to be very courteous and polite — with most of them not in any big rush.
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Old Faithful from trail

It doesn’t do any good to rush. You’ll just have to slow down a further down the road when you come up to more traffic — or a buffalo, elk, bear, coyote or , just maybe, wolf traffic jam.

Some people just can’t leave it at home. Some just have to bring their hurry up, go-go-go life with them to the park.

This morning, we were driving less than the 45 mile-per-hour speed limit somewhere between Norris Geyser Basin and Mammoth Hot Springs. Coming from the other direction a vehicle whipped out from behind a camper as soon as the vehicle in front of me was past him and then, as soon as he was past the camper, he whipped back into his lane. If I had been driving the speed limit, we might have been in a head-on collision.

As they went past our vehicle, I tried to make feel them more like they were back home. I pushed down hard on the center of the steering wheel. I’m sure the sound of the truck horn was something they were probably very familiar with — back home.

That may have been the first time I ever used the horn.

While at Mammoth, I talked with a park service worker who had been cleaning one of the restrooms yesterday when several tour buses showed up. Apparently power was out in the area at that time— and with it water pressure — and flush toilet. When she tried to tell the passengers that the flush toilets were not working, all she got was anger and verbal abuse. So she locked the doors.

I don’t understand why people have to be that way.

Yesterday, we were in one of the park stores in the Old Faithful area. Karen was waiting in line behind a lady who had brought an undercharge on a purchase from the grill to the attention of the cashier, which was the right thing to do, although it took time to figure out the right price and make the correction. However, the guy behind Karen was moaning and groaning loudly to his wife about the slow service and that there was only one checkout counter open. Karen said that she felt like telling the guy that the girl was just doing her job and that he should just give his purchases to his wife and go outside to cool off. But Karen would never do something like that.

Why do people have to be that way?

I guess for some, it’s just the way that they’re built.

© 2007 Mike Goad- All Rights Reserved.

Gallery: Virginia Beach, Virginia, May 10, 2009

(click on image for larger version)

We spent part of a day walking the beach, boardwalk, and a pier when we were in the area visiting family.  This photo was taken from the pier.

See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

When it comes to many projects, endeavors, and merchandise touted as “green” these days, I find myself becoming more and more skeptical.

“Green” – for whatever reason – has come to symbolize environmentalism, likely through the association of green color with nature, health, and growth, and “green” energy generally refers to renewable and alternative production and use of energy.

An recent article in the Washington Post looks at five myths about green energy:

Americans are being inundated with claims about renewable and alternative energy. Advocates for these technologies say that if we jettison fossil fuels, we’ll breathe easier, stop global warming and revolutionize our economy. Yes, “green” energy has great emotional and political appeal. But before we wrap all our hopes — and subsidies — in it, let’s take a hard look at some common misconceptions about what “green” means.

5 Myths:

1. Solar and wind power are the greenest of them all.
2. Going green will reduce our dependence on imports from unsavory regimes.
3. A green American economy will create green American jobs.
4. Electric cars will substantially reduce demand for oil.
5. The United States lags behind other rich countries in going green.

Check out the full Washington Post article: Five myths about green energy.

There are 3 children missing and a television reporter was killed by a “blizzard of rocks and debris” in the current eruption of Guatemala’s Pacaya volcano near the capitol, Guatemala City. At least 65 people have been injured.

Gallery: South Rim – September 9, 2009, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

(click on image for larger version)

See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

Gallery: Canton Lake – Oklahoma, August 29, 2009

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The sun was setting in a sky laden with smoke particles from fire in the Los Angeles area.  Canton Lake was the first stop on our 2nd trip of 2009.

The Station Fire (August 26 – October 16, 160,577 acres (251 sq mi; 64,983 ha), 209 structures destroyed, including 89 homes) started in the Angeles National Forest near the U.S. Forest Service ranger station on the Angeles Crest Highway (State Highway 2). Two firefighters were killed on August 30 while attempting to escape the flames when their fire truck plunged off a cliff. The blaze threatened 12,000 structures in the National Forest and the nearby communities of La Cañada Flintridge, Glendale, Acton, La Crescenta, Littlerock and Altadena, as well as the Sunland and Tujunga neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles. Many of these areas faced mandatory evacuations as the flames drew near, but as of September 6, all evacuation orders were lifted. The Station Fire burned on the slopes of Mount Wilson, threatening numerous television, radio and cellular telephone antennas on the summit, as well as the Mount Wilson Observatory, which includes several historically significant telescopes and multi-million-dollar astronomical facilities operated by UCLA, USC, UC Berkeley and Georgia State University. A 40-mile (64-kilometer) stretch of the Angeles Crest Highway was closed indefinitely due to guardrail and sign damage, although the pavement remained largely intact.

See more of our Image Galleries at Haw Creek.

Several years ago, I took a blogging journey through the American Civil War.  Each day, I posted material from the corresponding day in a specific year of the war.  I started with the fall of 1860, the last several months before the war started

At first, the material was from news articles, including images, from both sides, with a semi-regular entry from the diary of a Washington, D.C. clerk.  Over time, a couple of more diarists were added with fewer and fewer news articles. 

On of the things I was trying to do was to – like so many others – “make money online.”  While I was making virtually nothing from the civil war chronicles, I was making a couple of hundred dollars a month on another website.

With another year until the diarists would reach the end of their war, I made the decision to abandon the civil war chronicles and concentrate on trying to capitalize on the success of the other site.

Two years later, that site is still earning money – a couple of hundred dollars a month. 

I keep getting distracting off into other things that interest me more.

That being the case, I’m taking a step back to the beginning – a new civil war based blog. 

It’s called Diaries of the Civil War, though it will also include letters and other narratives.  Most posts will be for the corresponding day 150 years earlier. 

The blog is organized as though there is a community of authors. Each diary, letter, and journal writer will appear in the blog as a contributing author.

And, yes, it is already live. 

The main events don’t begin until later in 1860.  Until then, I will be populating the blog with material, for the most part, that occurred before the current date in 1860.

It is at http://dotcw.com.  Please come visit.

It’s pretty plain right now.  I will be adding graphics later and links later on.  Yes, there will be advertizing, but the ads will not intrude into the content. 

I’m already learning new stuff – and, it’s hardly even started.