I received an email from WordPress this past Saturday informing me that I reached my fifth anniversary as a blogger. Five years is a fair chunk of change and I must say that in some respects it does seem like eons ago. I remember getting excited then that the 150th anniversary of First Bull Run was only five months ago. Yikes. I went back the other day and looked at random at a few posts I’ve done over the years, which is something I never do. Occasionally, such as I did with the Pearl Harbor post for a few years, I’ll re-post something. For the most part however, once I have completed a post I am on to the next thing. It’s really the only way. Some of the old posts make me wince. To take a line from George Carlin, I can’t believe the material I once got away with. Usually my weakest posts were those where I failed to stay true to myself. Still, I haven’t posted anything I am truly ashamed or embarrassed about. I guess it all leads up to where one is today.

It may seem that the subject matter has changed here at The Strawfoot, especially as we moved from the Civil War sesquicentennial to the 100th anniversary of the Great War. I myself have never seen it that way, and think I bring the same perspective I always did. There was a shift of emphasis when I began volunteering at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in October 2013. I always knew a fair amount about both sides of the Roosevelt family, but going to the Roosevelt Birthplace every Saturday and writing regularly for the social media platforms. The TRB forced me to think harder.

I don’t know how much the blog says that is new or earth-shaking but I do like to believe it adds another perspective to the mix. I do know that some of you have been following along for several years now. It’s humbling to know that in the cacophony of modern life there are people out there who have made me part of their routine.