About Snapshots
Atwood Circa 1980
I began writing Snapshots in mid-January 2009. I have written about 100 posts over the past ten months. Far more than I thought I would. The anecdotes are reflections on my life growing up in Atwood, Kansas and on being a father, a husband and a friend.
The unexpected pleasure of writing Snapshots is connecting with old friends and new who have roots in Atwood and other small towns.
I am using the occasion of launching this website as a chance to “sharpen” my Snapshots. My goals for these anecdotes are the same as it was 10 months ago.
First, I want to capture family stories. My father encouraged everyone to write an autobiography for their grandchildren before the age 65. I’m not skilled at writing long narratives. These anecdotes that roam over a wide range of subjects are my substitute.
Second, I want to learn to be a better writer – how to hold people’s interest, especially my kids. And last, I want to learn more about the world of blogs. My first blog covered my experience as a member of the St. Vrain Valley Board of Education. Though I have been blogging for nearly two years, I still consider myself very much a novice. I have much more to learn.
Early readers of Snapshots will recognize some of the “new” posts on this site. I plan to repost one or two items per week that have been previously published. I also have plans to add at least one new post per week. I am mixing old and new for a few reasons. I want to clean-up and revise posts about neighbors, mentors and friends. After a year or so, I hope to have a nice collection of these stories. Also, it will give new readers a chance to see old posts.
The original set of Snapshots – running from January to October, 2009 – can still be found at www.johncr8on.wordpress.com. It’s a free site to me. So I plan to leave it up indefinitely.
My original Snapshots post can be found on this site, here. It explains in more detail what motivated me to write.
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November 3, 2009