I’m Ba-a-a-ack!

 

Welcome to, “A Different Drummer – the Blog”.

I wrote an award-winning column for a small town newspaper for about three years, and was their sports writer/editor for a total of ten.  Despite how much I enjoyed writing my beloved column, and the fact that it was very popular with our readers, I made the tough decision to leave the paper in May of 2017.

Since then many of my readers have told me they miss reading, “A Different Drummer.”

So, here I am.

For those who aren’t familiar with me or the column, I’ll dedicate my first post to an introduction.

Henry David Thoreau, in his classic, “Walden”, wrote, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.  Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

Well, I’ve always marched to the beat of a different drummer.

I’m a husband, father, a country boy, writer, photographer, and artist.  I read voraciously, spend too much time on the internet, and watch too many movies and too much TV.  I constantly have projects in the works, even if it’s only in the planning stage.

So what’s so different about me then?

I am a God fearing man who struggles with religion.  I’m an animal lover who loves to hunt.  For ten years I was a sports writer who doesn’t like most sports.  I’m working on a 400 pound bench press, but also love to cuddle with my grandchildren.  I’ve had my IQ measured in the upper ranges, but prefer t-shirts and blue jeans to a suit and tie.  I look like a redneck, but have been known to quote Shakespeare to illustrate my thoughts.  I am a former Marine who picked up sergeant in three years and I cried at the birth of all six of my sons.  I am currently reading Jon Krakauer’s book, “Where Men Win Glory,” about former professional football player and war hero Pat Tillman, but I am also listening to the audiobook, “Anne of Green Gables” while I’m on the road.  I’m a bit of a fan of Ernest Hemingway but don’t care for most of his writing.  I may quote Kelly Clarkson and Friedrich Nietzsche in the same sentence.

You see, I refuse to believe that I have to be satisfied with fitting into one category.  Sometimes I’m a square peg who is well-rounded enough to fit pretty well into a round hole.  I can talk to just about anyone about just about anything, at least for a little while.

I don’t always accept things just because “everyone” believes a certain way.  I like to think for myself, to question.  I may come around to the accepted way of thinking but, unlike a lot of people, I usually know why.

I want to share my opinions with you, and to listen to yours.  I welcome people who agree with me, and I welcome those who disagree as well…as long as we can disagree agreeably.

I don’t think, “Because you are stupid,” is a valid argument.

I will write my blog for me, as a way to explore my thoughts and beliefs, and I will write it for you, so that we can share ideas.  Won’t you join me?  The coffee is hot and the morning is young.  Let’s go sit on my front porch and talk.  At the least, we can part friends.  At best, we may both learn something.

Between sips from our cups we may sit quietly and find that we both march to the beat of a different drummer…maybe even the same one every now and then.