Happy Anniversary to Me

December has always been a month with significant dates for me. Besides holidays, there are birthdays, including my own, and other life cycle events. This year I add a new milestone to my December calendar. Today marks the first anniversary of Great Lakes Views.

When I began this blog a year ago, I set out to educate myself about the Great Lakes, and I did. Besides learning facts of this region, including geology, ecology, and biology, I learned about all the organizations, institutions, and associations that care deeply about it. I also met some great people, on-line and in person, who share their expertise and passion. However, mostly what I learned, which is so often the case when you start to really study a topic, is that there is so much more to learn. So for now, I plan to continue writing and studying about the Great Lakes.

Some of my readers have been with me from the beginning, when I put my literal toe into the blogging waters with It’s Day One. Others are new readers and may want to check out my explanation of why I write this blog. It was from my second posting and is called Great Lakes Gal. And if you don’t want to see where I was a year ago, that’s okay, too. I tabulated this morning that I recorded 162 pages (not including photos) and over 50,000 words. That’s a lot to go back and read, but if you want to – fine by me.

By the way, today marks another anniversary. 218 years ago, The Bill of Rights, the first Ten Amendments to the US Constitution, went into effect. Among those rights are Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Our forefathers could not have imagined the Internet and the challenges it would present to those freedoms, but they knew in a free country you should be able to express yourself without censure and suppression. You may or may not like what I write here but I am grateful for the freedom to write it.