Ten Years

And just like that, a decade has passed. I started this blog ten years ago, on October 19th, 2015. I was 60 then. I’m 70 now. The blog started because of a death*, and a West Point classmate’s admonishment to “Live Life Exuberantly.” I have tried to do so, although not always successfully.

 The blog is still going strong, or is at least still going ;-). When I started, I pushed something out every two or three weeks. For the past few years, I publish weekly. To date, there have been 449 posts with over 120,000 views. That isn’t much when compared to the pros, but I’ll take it. While most of my audience is from the States, I also have something of an overseas following. To date, there are readers from an additional 68 countries this year.

 Since I started, there have been a few events many of us did not see coming and have provided topics for fodder. We had a global pandemic with countless deaths. Trump was elected President. Twice. The Cubbies won the World Series. Once. 

 In my mind, the diversity of the blog is both its great strength, and its weakness. I have written about a variety of subjects – family, family history, my life, life on the farm, baseball, cooking, nature, West Point, the Army, bourbon, vacations, love, Africa, Covid, Germany, our dog Carmen, other pets, horses, race relations, politics, Trump, restaurants, history, the deaths of friends and family members, and strange one-off topics, such as the emus who visited our farm.  

 There were also several blogs about the little pieces of individual history floating by in the world’s big history – Dad at Casablanca in WWII. Uncle Don during the Tet offensive in Vietnam. Clark Hall at Cam Ne in Vietnam. Our friend Chuck at Woodstock. Old friend Tim near Afghanistan, just before the Soviets invaded there and seeing signs of something wrong. September 11th and me. Mom Snow and the Alabama Shakes. Cathy in the old USSR not long before its demise.

 Yes, the blog started with a death, and there has been much death since then. Happily, most of the blogs have been about living and the joy of life, or at least laughing at life. Sometimes, I think I laugh at the blogs more than the readers do.

 I want to thank my subscribers and my readers. I am always a bit amazed when someone wants to “follow” me. I like to think I write for myself, but I also know I care more than I should about how many people read a particular blog. I am happy there has been a steady growth in readership over the decade.

I also want to thank my wife, Cathy, and my friend Colleen for their editorial assistance. Both have no problem saying, “Max, what the…” or pointing out my my many errors. They have an endless job, and I am often a slow learner.

 Ten years of anything good is worth celebrating. I hope you will celebrate with me. In the immortal words of Kool and the Gang:

There’s a party goin’ on right here

A celebration to last throughout the years

So bring your good times and your laughter too

We gonna celebrate your party with you…

.

Peace to all. Celebrate life. Maybe even try to live life exuberantly when you can. 

 Addendum:

Here is a link to the blog that started it all: https://maxnhall.com/2015/10/19/why-live-life-exuberantly/