Sometime early this morning, April 12, 2020, this blog had its 100th person sign up to follow the blog and it only took nine years, almost to the day, from April 15, 2011, when I wrote and posted the initial blog post entitled "A Brief Introduction To My Appalachian Life". I realize that neither nine years to achieve the milestone of 100 followers, or that number of followers themselves approaches anything like a record. But I have been writing and posting more frequently and steadily for about three and a half years since I have retired from my full time occupation as a mental health and substance abuse therapist and my part time occupation over the last ten years as a self-employed auctioneer. But I will say that 100 followers on any blog is above average and most bloggers and blogs never achieve that level. It can be assumed that at some time over the last nine years that number of people have read something at least once on this blog which left them interested enough in my writing to try to come back and read more of it. In the spirit of total honesty, I will also say that having 100 followers listed on any blog does not mean that all of those 100 people are actively reading the blog which they are reputed to be following. Some of them might have died, decided they are no longer interested in that blog but are too lazy to delete it from their list of followed blogs, or they might have simply stopped reading anyone's blog.
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| Roger D. Hicks & Loyal Jones, Photo by Candice M. Hicks |
But I remember how long it took for this blog to achieve even fifty followers and that was most of these first nine years. Over the last four years as I have written more steadily on the blog, I have seen a surge in followers which is also linked to the fact that I have also begun to more frequently post links to my posts on Facebook both on my own Facebook page and on several group pages devoted to some aspect of Appalachian Studies. As the title clearly implies, the main focus of the blog is Appalachia and Appalachian Studies. But over the last four years, I have also written more and more frequently about American politics. I suspect that most of my followers are interested primarily in Appalachia and Appalachian Studies. But I also believe that my political writing has attracted a few of the people over the last four years. I also realize that some of both groups of followers are not particularly interested in the other aspect of the blog. I know that some of my followers who are interested in Appalachian Studies might dislike my politics and my political writing. Tough shit if you are one of those! With the fate of the country I love lying in the hands of a Russian Owned TRAITOR, you can bet your ass I will continue to write about American politics, and I will continue to push for the indictment, prosecution, conviction, and imprisonment of that TRAITOR until the day one of us dies and I sincerely hope it is him because I would love to piss on his grave so long as he dies, as he should, in a federal prison cell after having been held legally responsible for his many crimes against this country, the remainder of the civilized world, and the entire human race. I also know that an equal percentage of the followers who have joined this blog over the last four years because of my political writing wish I would stop wasting their time with more articles about Appalachia, the place of my birth, my education, my culture, and my life. Tough shit if you are one of those! I will never stop writing about Appalachia as long as my mind and my typing fingers work. And since I follow at least one blog written by a woman who is a quadriplegic who must write with adaptive software using eye blinks, you can bet that I would not quit writing about Appalachia so long as I live. I do sincerely hope that I can someday devote far less of my writing time to American politics. But that will not happen until we are blessed with an actual legally and duly elected president which I look forward to on January 20, 2021. I hope all of you join me in supporting that effort to elect a president who has not committed TREASON in order to illegally occupy the White House. If that happens, I will probably write very little about politics and most of you politically interested followers can smile and go home with peace in your heart which I am certain has been absent every day since January 20, 2017. I realize that no matter who occupies the White House for the remainder of all our lives that there will be other crises which will crop up. But you can bet your ass those crises will be much less stressful on us, less dangerous to the country, and far more quickly, ethically, morally, and legally dealt with when we have removed, via a legally conducted election, the current scourge from his TREASONOUS occupation of the White House.
But I would like to thank each one of you who is actively following this blog for your interest in my work. I know a few of you personally, some of whom I knew before I started this blog, and several I have come to know because of this blog. I actually got to come to know one of my literary and Appalachian Studies heroes because of this blog. I will always treasure the day the great Appalachian scholar Loyal Jones, the founder of the Appalachian Studies Program at Berea College left a message on my phone inviting me to lunch because he had read some of my work based on some of his work. I also treasure the day Bill Best, another professor emeritus at Berea College and I became friends because we both write about and love Appalachia and despise the current illegal occupant of the White House. Because of this blog, I have also come to know Frank Barnett and his sister, Mary Marguerite Barnett-Price, who along with me, grew up on the waters of Beaver Creek. Frank is a noted expert, along with Bill Best, in the field of saving, preserving, and propagating heritage food crops in Appalachia. They have taught me a lot about the crops my ancestors grew and I am appreciative of them both. John D. Shelton and I connected because his wife is a descendant of a few of my common ancestors and John also agrees with most of my politics. Jay Shuck was known to me for several years before I began this blog. He and I have completed a graduate school program together and worked for the same institution for a few years. Marie Manilla, a noted Appalachian author whose work I appreciate, decided to join this blog sometime after we were introduced by our friends Edwina Pendarvis and P. J. Laska, both of whom are noted Appalachian poets. I do not know all of you followers but can rest assured that I appreciate your interest in my work. If you are remotely interested in Appalachian Fiction, you might consider going to the section at the bottom of the front page of this blog which is labeled "Links To Other Sites About Appalachia" and read one or two of my fiction pieces on various websites around the country. If you do that, always feel free to send me an e-mail with your honest opinions of that aspect of my writing. Be honest! I can take it. My work has been rejected by experts and yet a few of them have enjoyed it.
If you choose to continue to read this blog, know that I will always tell you the truth. I will not lie to you either in print or to your face. If you want to know my unvarnished opinion of anything or anybody, just ask me. I will not wait to determine what you believe before I tell you. I will answer you immediately based on my honest opinion and to the best of my knowledge. You can take me at my word. If you ever desire to contact me, feel free either on the comments section of the blog or on one of my listed e-mail addresses. My telephone has never been unlisted and it will never be. Call me if you feel the need. Maybe we can have lunch together some day and actually learn if we like each other. Once again, Thanks To All Of You who follow this blog.
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| Photo of Freeway Carpets Marquee, El Paso, TX, photo by Roger D. Hicks |
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