Tag Archives: FREELIVINGHERE

Week in Review: Week 2

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Some things are easier said than done.

Premium content, for example. I’m still working on that. I successfully set up a WordPress/Stripe account to receive payments for content behind a paywall, but I haven’t been able to plug that into posts. Not that I expect to be making a great deal of money from a paywall. I won’t be producing premium content fast enough to make it worth a subscription fee, so for now I’ll simply make it a one-time fee for each story. For now, though, it’s free. Browse to your heart’s content but please don’t steal.

Keeping up with the daily deadline continues to be a challenge. I’ve developed a routine of five posts a week, Monday through Friday, with a Saturday wrap-up like this one. On Fridays, when we have the material, I’ll turn the post over to The Rhetoric Referee. Last week and this, developments in Washington made this easy. We’ll see where it goes from here.

Planning material around known events—national holidays (and non-holidays) and the like—allows me to write current material in advance. But I’ve learned that I can’t just recycle previous posts. January 16, for example, is Religious Freedom Day. I explained last year why that’s important, and intended to reuse that content this month. But doing so would mean one less post for people to explore and perhaps learn from. Meanwhile, the story of the Bownes came to my attention and provided a new take on the date. So I slipped the original post back to its 2021 date and wrote anew.

Then the problem became one of scheduling. January 16 happens to be Sunday, which is a day I intend to take off from posting. Saturday is reserved for my week-in-review pieces like this one. Friday is for The Rhetoric Referee. So the religious freedom story had to run on Thursday, in advance. That’s OK, maybe some people will think about it on the day itself.

A similar problem with Martin Luther King’s Birthday. He was actually born on January 15th, although the federal Monday holiday will never fall on that date. I wanted to tell that story on the 15th—today— but it’ll have to wait until Monday.

Observations: Visitors are now arriving for specific posts, rather than just the homepage as they did in the past. The old homepage gave a preview of the post and I suspect it had a similar effect on the reader as a newspaper’s “jump lines” do. People also seem to be sticking around to sample other posts as well.

Interaction: Only halfway through January, but it’s the best month to date in terms of traffic for the blog. The record in terms of single-day visits is still January 25, 2021—Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day—which is coming up at the end of the month. Spread the word and prepare to break out the bubbly!

Professional development: I’ve almost completed importing my photo collection for the blog, including a few shots that will serve as writing prompts for later in the year. My wife also snagged Robin Houghton’s “Blogging for Writers” from the local library, which I’m studying for tips.

Next week: A special post from a rarely visited historic site, possible live-blogging of New England sunsets, and some time off from deadline writing to pursue more long-term projects. See you next Saturday!

Plowing into trouble

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“Your article strikes a nerve with me. I am sure it is meant to make for some fun. I happen to be snowplow driver. I have been plowing snow for 13 years now. In 13 years I physically hit one mailbox with the snowplow itself. That was with a new plow that had not been adjusted properly.”
Litchfield snowplow driver objects
to drift of mailbox complaints
“Living Here,” Republican-American, January 21, 2008

I ‘ll be the first to admit it: Maybe I was a little harsh on snowplow operators yesterday.

This particular fellow was tired of all the grumbling and kidding he gets from the job, which is not an easy one. You have to maintain momentum on roads where obstacles may be hidden under the snow. You have to avoid sliding cars, sledding kids, and other plow contractors. And then an ingrate starts venting about his mailbox, or how the end of his driveway got plowed over.

Can’t say I blame him. If I came home after driving for hours in a blizzard and sat down to read some guy in a warm newspaper office make fun of me, I’d get hot under the collar, too.

I hope that after driving the plow since—what? 1995?—the anonymous writer is somewhere on a beach in Florida by now. He’d certainly be in good company. This year, because of the pandemic and supply-chain shortages, drivers with Commercial Driver’s Licenses, or CDLs, are hard to find. The really good money is going to long-haul drivers, who, ironically, depend on the plow operators to clear the path for them.

That leaves several parts of the country—particularly in the snowy Rocky Mountain states—with a shortage of plow operators this year. And that could just add to the whole supply-chain crisis if winter storms continue to wallop the heartland.

Plow drivers are hard to find here in the Northeastern U.S., too. One landscaping company that clears parking lots for malls and other clients is running slick help-wanted ads on Hartford television stations. A landscaper in Vermont who previously billed clients per plow-out switched to contracting for the entire winter. That gives him a fixed revenue for the season so he can plan his staffing in advance.

Even the solo contractor who has done our driveway for nearly 10 years now had to raise his rates this year because his costs, especially gasoline, are up.

Still, he takes it in good humor. So did the operator who inspired my first Mailbox Roulette column, in which I described my home-handyman repairs in which I mummified my mailbox in duct tape.

The day after that one appeared, I opened the mailbox to find a brand-new roll of duct tape—and a note saying how much he enjoyed the column.

Want to read more about the history of Mailbox Roulette? You can, online, at Newslibrary.com. Under Advanced Search, search for “Howard Fielding” in All Text, “Republican-American” in Source, and “Mailbox Roulette” in All Text.

On playing Mailbox Roulette

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Every winter storm is another spin of the Mailbox Roulette wheel. Will your number come up and the box survive the storm, or will the snow plow come by, and, like the croupier’s tool, wipe your investment off the table?
“Quest for the elusive plow-proof mailbox continues,” Living Here, Republican-American, March 12, 2006

Despite my bachelor days in northern New England, I never was one for winter sports. I did some skating as a kid and cross-country skiing in college, but never took to the cold.

My wife and I both attended colleges near the Canadian border, but hockey wasn’t my thing either. It was the only sport she followed, though, and she delighted watching her team whup mine once or twice a winter.

It wasn’t until we bought our first house, about a quarter-century ago, that I discovered my true winter calling: Mailbox Roulette. The plow came through that first winter and the heavy, icy slush knocked our already dented mailbox off its post. I fastened it back on with—what else?—duct tape. The contraption stood there all winter, looking like Marley’s bandaged ghost.

Since then, Marley the mailbox has been reincarnated every two to three years. Plastic boxes became metal, then heavy-duty steel. Wooden posts became metal, cemented into the ground. Eventually we upgraded to a MailSwing—a post with a hinged arm that absorbs the blow. It’s made in Maine. We figured that in that state, Mailbox Roulette is a high-stakes game.

A few years ago, we took the game to a new venue. The snow throw from a seasoned Vermont plow knocked our mailbox there off its post like a T-ball set. With no real chance to make repairs over the winter, we resorted to a P.O. box until spring. Then we installed another MailSwing.

The next winter, the Vermont plow scored one against our neighbor. And when we returned to our nest that spring, our mailbox suddenly had a twin!

Week in Review: Week 1

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The first week of anything is often the hardest, but this time I had some time to prepare. Next week I may not be so lucky—or prolific.

I had a week, from Christmas to New Year’s, to make over the blog with new content. I explain that in “Turning over a new leaf.”

Awesome original photos? I’ve picked and edited a few hundred by now and am trying to post them on or about the date they were taken in past years.

New material? I changed the default category from “Essays” to “Short Takes” and try to keep them under two minutes in reading time. I stocked up enough for the first week, and drafted some for other dates throughout the year. I’m not sure how long I can keep up the pace of six days a week, but I’m starting 2022 with more posts than in all of 2021.

And I intend to keep topics current by posting seasonal pieces and swapping in timely pieces when I can. The Rhetoric Referee has been told to keep it short, clear, and timely, and to try to avoid taking sides.

Observations: Posting frequently and sharing to Facebook seems to have attracted more visitors than posting infrequently and sharing reluctantly. (Thank you, Captain Obvious!)

Professional development: At last, a daily deadline! It’s been a long time since I faced that challenge.

Next week: Develop a routine. Stock more advance copy. Create captions and metadata for the photos. Get back to work on other projects.

See you here next Saturday!

Having an Epiphany

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Procrastinators like me put off Christmas preparations until Christmas Eve, more or less. Our family makes up for it by celebrating the holiday right through Jan. 6, or Epiphany, when the three kings were said to have brought gifts to the Christ child.
“Living Here,” January 2, 2011

Happy Twelfth Day of Christmas!

Yes, we’re serious about stretching out the holiday all the way to the 6th of January. We’ve been doing it for nearly 40 years, since we were newlyweds.

At the time, our parents lived in three different households in two different states. There was no way we could spend Christmas Day with all of them. Even Christmas Eve at one house, Christmas Day at another, and New Year’s at a third was a logistical problem. When we became parents, the problem became a nightmare.

Parents are generous at Christmastime, and grandparents even more so. The only way we could avoid the Christmas morning gift orgy, the sugar high of giving and getting, was to spread things out.

“Let’s give presents for the entire twelve days of Christmas,” my wife suggested.

I stared at her in disbelief. “There’s no way we can afford twelve gifts for each kid, let alone each other.”

She pointed out that a gift doesn’t have to be expensive. It could be something simple. My mother used to give me underwear and Lifesavers Sweet Story Books in addition to the must-have toy of the season.

So we tried it, and it worked better than we expected. The kids (and we) actually savored the present du jour instead of tossing it aside for the next biggest package. And the grandparents got their chance to be the stars of the day.

Now that the kids are all grown with places of their own, the plan still works, in reverse. We visit them, they visit us, when we can during the twelve days of Christmas. It gives each of us the chance to savor the time together instead of competing for presents and stressing over deadlines. There’s no real problem if that mail-order present doesn’t arrive by December 24th.

Plus it gives procrastinators like me until Christmas Eve to get the decorations up, and until right about now to get the cards in the mail.

Want to read more of the column quoted above? You can, online, at Newslibrary.com. Under Advanced Search, search for “Howard Fielding” in All Text, “Republican-American” in Source, and “January 2, 2011” in Date.

The new year is already old

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“You know, I think Howard Fielding is right,” the man in the pulpit said as he started to preach.
That made me wake up.
Of all the church sermons I have heard in my life, that was one that stood out. It was years ago, another church, another pastor who has since moved on. And he was preaching from the Book of Living Here.
“Living Here,” Republican-American, September 3, 2007
A time to reappraise as, under the heaven, the seasons again turn

Despite what the calendar may tell you, the new year doesn’t start in January. That’s just a clerical anomaly. It starts with Labor Day.

Think about it. The school year, of course. Television seasons (which were more seasonal back in the day of four major networks). Sports. And the list goes on.

New Year’s Day? Just a party in the middle of the year to give us the energy to go on.

Good riddance to a bad year

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I’d like to wish you a happy new year, but instead I’ll just say “good riddance.”
Yes, 2012 is a new year, and let’s hope it will be happy – not, for example, like 2011, which was a stinky old year all around.
“Living Here,” Republican-American, January 1, 2012

To be fair, have you ever looked back at a year and said to yourself “Ah, that was a good one! I’d like to do that one over again!

Usually not. Hope springs eternal. That’s why we wish each other a happy new year, because it just HAS to be better than the one before. Right?

To be sure, 2021 and 2020 were really bad years. So was 2011, but then it was wild weather, not a pandemic. My area had ice storms and blizzards that winter, Hurricane Irene in the fall, and the freak Halloween nor’easter that took out power throughout the Northeast. And in 2001 it was 9/11 and an economic collapse. Just in case you think there’s something new under the sun…

On promises and starting over

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Yes, I’m starting over. If you’re here looking for “Write in the Middle,” thanks for your patience but it wasn’t doing either of us much good.

I set up hwfielding.com to share occasional essays and fiction, tell people about my writing life and projects, and maybe, someday, sell some books. But the posts were long and intermittent. Readers didn’t know what to expect, and neither did I. Worse, with the exception of one comment from an old friend, there was no interactivity.

So here’s a redesign to give us more give-and-take. Some highlights:

Featured photos on the cover, sharing some of the joy and beauty I’ve found in this world we share.
Headlines designed to pique your curiosity so you click through to the post.
When you click through, you’ll see the featured photo in large format. The accompanying text will be short, usually about two minutes reading time, and not necessarily related to the pretty picture. I’ll focus the essays on the things we have in common as people living here together in this world.
Many of the posts will quote my collection of “Living Here” columns for the Republican-American. These new essays will include links to how to retrieve the original columns from the online archive at Newslibrary.com. I’m doing this to demonstrate its continuing value in hopes of one day publishing one or more collections based on the original material.
From time to time, maybe once a week, my friend The Rhetoric Referee will make an appearance to comment on how media and politicians on both sides steer the narrative unfairly.
Of course, I’ll continue to give you the latest Bubble Wrap news that’s ready to pop.
At the end of the week, I’ll account for my professional writing progress (or lack of it), what I’ve learned, and where I’m going from here.
I may continue occasional sneak peeks of fiction, but for copyright purposes I may be converting those to premium content for subscribers only.
Oh, and sunrises and sunsets and rainbows and flowers. My wife and I enjoy predicting, rating, and reviewing sunsets where we can find them. This might give us the chance to do that live and in color. Stay tuned!

It’s my challenge to myself, and, like a new year’s resolution, I have no idea how long it will last. I do know this, though: It will be a lot more fun with some friends along for the ride. Want to join me? Comment on some of the posts, Like my page on Facebook, follow this blog in WordPress Reader, or subscribe to the posts by email in the form below. If you want to get newsletters and insider updates by MailChimp, use the form at the bottom of the sidebar to the right. (I promise I won’t spam you.)

Many thanks! I look forward to Living Here Together with you!

Howard Fielding

No news is bad news

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I’m going to let you in on a trade secret: The reason the media were so obsessed with new year’s resolutions this past week is the same reason they were obsessed with the Iowa caucuses. There is nothing else going on.
“Living Here,” Republican-American, January 7, 2008.
Resolved: Find something new to report on next Jan. 1

It’s true! Every news organization I’ve ever known, from newspapers to radio to television and the web, is faced with three big challenges at this time of year:

Nothing is happening. Congress is on break. The White House is on holiday. The schools, government offices, and most businesses are geared down and not making news. All you’ll get is spot news—fires, accidents, disasters—if you’re lucky. This year we can rely on the pandemic, so I guess we’re not.
There’s no one to cover the news if it does occur. News organizations go on skeleton staff. The senior people take holidays with their families, leaving the fewest and newest to run the operation.
No one is reading or watching or listening, anyway. Everyone is out there shopping or partying or watching reruns of old holiday movies.

The smart news organizations don’t leave this to chance. Before everyone vamooses for the holiday, they are expected to file one or more so-called “evergreen” pieces—something from their beat that can be trotted out as needed during the long news drought. The “year in review” (in my cruder days I knew them as year-enders or rear-enders) is the easiest because you simply organize your clips from the past year. The look-aheads to the next year take a little more research.

It also takes time to research and prepare a year-ender on a particular topic, such as the pandemic or a national, state, or local program.

And for those junior members of the team who are left to cover the news of the day, or lack of it? There’s always the first babies of the new year. Or you could track down the person-on-the-street. Did you get what you wanted? Did you have trouble finding what you were looking for? What are your resolutions? Regrets? Hopes?

The real news cycle starts up again this week, so don’t worry.

Or then again, maybe you should …

Turning over a new leaf

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Happy New Year! I’m turning over a new leaf.

Let’s face it: “Write in the Middle” was going nowhere. A blog that posts only once every few months gets few followers. Its content was mostly raw fiction or essays, delivered sporadically. It was time for something fun and creative, something people would want to see. It’s time to bring joy.

Celebrating life, liberty, and happiness together

On our social media feed, my scenic photos—mostly of sunsets—get the most attention, so I figure you’ll like them. And I have a lot of them, going back 20 years or more. My wife and I have talked about making a blog of our photos and reviews of sunsets. This is a step in that direction.

The featured photos will be part of a short post. This may be about writing, the day itself, or a quote from my long-running “Living Here” column in the Republican-American. If you want to read the whole original column, I’ll link to the Newslibrary archive website.

There is a fee for retrieving from Newslibrary. You can pay per story or subscribe by the month or year. The original publisher, in my case the Republican-American, gets most of the fee paid for each article downloaded; the rest goes to the archive. A subscription allows you to search and retrieve from thousands of newspapers across the country. That makes it a good research tool for writers and researchers. I’ll be using my subscription to research another project I’m working on, “He Said, She Said.”

Below is an example what the Newslibrary search page looks like. When I cite a “Living Here” example, I’ll give you the search terms for the last “in All Text” or “limit by date” fields. Enjoy!

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In Other Words …

H.W. FIELDING

Tag Archives: FREELIVINGHERE

Week in Review: Week 2

In case you missed it …

Budding Writer, 1980: Country Journal?

Journeyman Journalist, 1980: Coalitions and competition

Journeyman Journalist, 1980: Missing the mark

Journeyman Journalist, 1980: Things in common

Budding Writer, 1980: Mastering the craft

Plowing into trouble

On playing Mailbox Roulette

Week in Review: Week 1

Having an Epiphany

The new year is already old

Good riddance to a bad year

On promises and starting over

No news is bad news

Turning over a new leaf

Celebrating life, liberty, and happiness together

In case you missed it …

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Celebrating life, liberty, and happiness together

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