Morning Musings & Fun Monday #25

NaBloPoMo - Day 3... have YOU?
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We finally got some rain (including thunder & lightning in some places and mudslides in others) on Saturday and Sunday. Apparently thousand of folks voting early in Los Angeles County spent up to 4 hours waiting in line each day because they figured it could be worse on Tuesday when they had to get to work.

Interestingly, the news reports this morning show that the folks who have arrived early at the polls this morning (thinking they'd find long lines again) were surprised to see how few others showed up around 4am with them today, however more people are arriving steadily as it gets closer to opening time at the polls.

8:50am addendum - Thought I'd update this post ... just because. The line to vote early in Norwalk, CA (in LA County) is now stretching around the block ... so it looks like another big day of early voting there. In Orange County where I live, early voting ended last Thursday.

The news says the next storm could arrive Monday afternoon and rain through Tuesday. How strange to have had dry weather for several months and experience wet weather like this around the election. I'm relieved to have voted already, and I hope inclement weather doesn't discourage anyone from going to the polls.

Mike Golch of Rambling Stuff and Sandee of Comedy Plus shared this Full of Grace blog award recently and I'd like to pass it along here to all my regular readers today.

Bee Dancer is today's Fun Monday hostess, and she writes:

"I'm relatively new to blogging, & I'm sure this has come up before, but I'd really like to know WHY you blog. Tell me how you got started or why you got started and why you keep it up. Plus there's a photo requirement: Post a picture of the one person/place/thing that most symbolizes the town or area where you live."

Photo source: Flickzzz

Most of you know that I live in Southern California a block and a half from the Pacific Ocean, so this is what my late afternoon view looks like when I take a short walk. If you've not seen them before (or wish to look again), you can click for additional views of Molly playing at Dog Beach in a previous Fun Monday about our favorite walk.

The short answer to Why I Blog is that it's fun. I've written in journals for DECADES but seldom share much of anything I write with anyone because I write for an audience of one ... me. Over the years, I've been told I could publish my work, but I didn't (and still don't) have much confidence about that.

I started blogging a few months after attending a week-long Writers Retreat in Taos, New Mexico during the summer of 2007 ... with support & encouragment from friends I met there. At that time I'd never even SEEN a blog and had no clue what I was getting into ... but it seems I took to it like a duck takes to water & that's one of the reasons I use Lisa's photo in my 'Welcome Note' at the top under the 'header' created from a photo I took at Hennsington Garens near the Mabel Dodge Luhan House & Retreat Center ... when I spent considerable time writing.

Some time ago (in July of 2008), I responded to the question of Why I Blog in greater detail when Rebecca of Reba's Ramblings celebrated her Blogoversary by asking visitors to address the eternal question. Back then I wrote (in part):

It's clear to me that blogging ...
1. provides a way for me to experiment with sharing what I write ... without having to sit face to face with someone as I do this thing, and I've discovered that I'm much more of an introvert than most people (including myself) generally realize
2. allows me to become accustomed feedback from a variety of readers and get over my tendency to keep what I write to myself
3. introduces me to others who write (and take photographs)
4. keeps my mind active and learning new things all the time
5. stretches my imagination and my boundaries
6. fills free time with interaction when I'm alone
7. opens my eyes to what is ... and what might be ... if only
8. expands my world and opens me up to new possibilities & experiences
9. allows me to make & interact with 'virtual' friends

Of course, sometimes 'life' intervenes and takes precedence over blogging, but once things calm down this Blogosphere remains ... inviting us each to share & engage as much or as little as we choose. I'm still thinking about changing my 'storyteller' moniker and possibly my avatar ... but thus far I've not yet come up with anything I like better. When (or if) I do ... perhaps a clearer direction will emerge as well, but for now I'm content to continue in the same vein and see what emerges.

I enjoyed celebrating by 1st Blogoversary recently at Small Reflections and Sacred Ruminations and am participating in NaBloPoMo for the 2nd year ... but actually I've not missed a day of posting here since I started. I've published 394 posts on this blog and another 264 posts at Sacred Ruminations for a total of 658 posts in just 378 days. Those totals surprise ME and, of course, they don't include the additional 9 posts on my 3rd blog, BlogRolls&Bling ;--)

Click for others participating in Fun Monday today.

If you haven't yet done so ...
be sure to get ready to Vote on Tuesday!

Small Reflections ... Smile Back

Thought for Today
"Mankind will never see an end of trouble until... lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power... become lovers of wisdom." Plato, The Republic