A Quarter Million Page Views!

Map Of Southern And Central Appalachia

When I began this blog with the first post on April 15, 2011, I had no idea exactly where it would go or what it might become.  I had some rough ideas of what I wanted to do.  The primary goal was, and still is, expressed in the masthead: To write about Appalachian Culture and how to keep it alive.  On some levels, I have helped to do that to the degree that is possible in today's world where any minority culture is in severe danger of being assimilated out of existence.  Today, March 22, 2018, nearly seven years after I began the blog, it has achieved a quarter million lifetime page views.  In 83 months of life, that amounts to an average of only about 300 page views a month. I freely admit that is not setting the world on fire.  But on a couple of occasions, for reasons I still don't understand, it has achieved in the neighborhood of 20,000 page views in a month, once slightly over 20,000 and once slightly under 20,000.  Some posts or articles have achieved nearly 50,000 lifetime page views each.  A couple more are nearing the 25,000 page view mark. The blog has 56 registered followers although it is not possible to speculate as to whether or not any of them, with one known exception, are actually following the blog regularly and reading most posts. I suspect, based on my own blog reading, that a few of those followers might not look at this blog even as often as once a month.  But, for me, this has never been about page views or listed followers.  It is about writing for personal satisfaction, speaking out and educating some portion of the general public about life and culture in Appalachia, and helping to preserve my native culture for as long as possible, and leaving some written evidence of that culture in the event it does not survive. 

But over the last two years, it has become necessary for me to focus more of my attention on national politics in America as we face the greatest threat to American Democracy since 1865.  I will continue to write as often as possible about the crimes of TRAITOR and International Terrorist Trump and his Russian Owned Criminal Syndicate until such time as America actually has a real, duly elected President who is committed to actually protecting and preserving the US Constitution, the nation, and American Democracy.  If you, as a reader of this blog, choose to stick your head in the sand and ignore the constitutional crisis in which the country is embroiled you do not have my sympathy, support, or pity.  You need to join the Resistance and make an active effort to work to guarantee the successful completion of the Robert Mueller investigation and the indictment, conviction, impeachment, and imprisonment of the TRAITOR and International Terrorist Donald Trump.  That is the most important effort going on in America today and will be until the job is complete and the entire band of criminals now occupying the White House are imprisoned as they should have already been. 

As I have time, I will continue to read books, both new and old, which are pertinent to Appalachian Culture and review them on this blog.  I will continue to attempt to write about heroes who are natives of Appalachia, historical subjects in Appalachia, and Bluegrass and Mountain Music.  I would also love to eventually begin to write individual blog posts about the individual counties, cities, and rivers in the region.  I hope you find it interesting enough to return from time to time.  Even more so, I hope that you choose to actively support America and American Democracy and join the Resistance to fight for the nation.