Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Not quite a new coat of paint



Years ago, a guy I knew had a pretty cool car. It wasn’t the first cool car I’d known this guy to have, nor was he the only guy I knew who had a cool car, but I digress here. 

Back to the story…

One summer, the guy with the cool car decided he could make the car even better, and when he did, he’d be even prouder of the vehicle on which he’d spent more than a lot of his hard-earned money and a bunch of elbow grease and love. 

He took that car – a 1962 Impala, if memory serves me right – for a brand-new paint job. When he got it back, it looked as if it had just rolled off the assembly line, and he was as proud of it as a new dad is of a first-born child. 

Back then, I’d never had a vehicle of my own or worked so hard to have something look just so, so as the teenager I was, I didn’t fully understand the pride he had in his vehicle or the care he took to keep it looking good. 

It’s funny what the years will do, the way your perspective changes – on life, on hard work and labors of love. 

I don’t have a classic Chevy, though don’t think I don’t get a bit nostalgic when I see one. 

Another labor of love

I do, though, have a blog. 

It’s my labor of love. 

Just as that teenaged boy put a lot of hard work and caring into his car that summer, I’ve been sprucing up my blog. 

If you’re one of my newspaper readers, reading online through The State Journal-Register or The Register-Mail, you may have missed some of my early blog posts and the landing pages on my blog, where I share the stories behind why I write about the things I do.

This week, I took a little time to “put a new coat of paint” on my blog. I went through all of the articles I’ve written over the past few months. 

Now, when you select a specific category on my blog, http://musingsonroute66.blogspot.com/, you can find all the stories I’ve written related to that category. And, yes, you’ll find some posts in more than one category, because my interests, my passions, my experiences overlap. 

What you’ll find

Wonder what you’ll find there – what my interests are?

I’m a reader and a writer, so if you like books or writing or reading about writing, you may enjoy the stories in “A book is perking,” “Books worth reading” and “Wanna be a writer.” 

I love life – little moments, big dreams, and words from others that capture joy and inspire people to soar. Musings along these lines normally fall into “Been thinkin’,” “Found a quote” and “Simple things.”

Born on the prairies of Illinois, I loved my native state, yet trips to Missouri, which my grandfather left for the Land of Lincoln nearly a century ago, always left me with a pull to its hills and lakes and relaxed lifestyle. As I traveled from one state to the other off and on for more than 20 years, often on the interstate highways or railroads along Route 66, the Mother Road, its history and its slower pace called to me and led me to the musings which birthed this blog. You’ll see my affection for these two neighboring, alike yet different states and the road which ties them together in “Inspired in Illinois,” “Mother Road” and “Missouri Minute.”

There are two other things at play in creating the me I am today – I, like 79 million other Americans, am a Baby Boomer. And, as are all humans, I’m who I am because of the people who have crossed my path – in my case, many incredible, inspirational, courageous souls. Boomers, you’ll probably relate to my “Boomer Banter” stories. And, may you all cross paths with and feel the touch in your lives of “Sensational Beings.” I can’t wait to have you meet some of the ones in my life. 

Come and sit a spell

If you like what you read in my newspaper posts or online, and you wonder about the rest of my words, stop by the blog, dig around a bit, leave me a comment if you’d like.

I think I’m a bit like that guy I once knew. 

I spruced my blog up for me. It makes me feel good to think it’s all nice and shiny. 

But I did it for you, too. 

You can’t tell me that guy didn’t like it when someone walked past and said, “Wo, cool car.” 

I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I didn’t admit I hope you say, “Cool blog posts.”

© Ann Tracy Mueller 2012  

 (Image via)

2 comments:

  1. yes it is cool to have people stroll by and go... nice...with that look of, oh ya... really cool stuff here. :~)

    will have to come back and check around :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for dropping by, Luna. Come back as often as you'd like!

    ReplyDelete