Well, it wasn’t actually an eternal damnation sin, and more a sin of “omission” than commission but I felt compelled to atone for it.
My dear friends Mike Venable and Jill Tigner are owners and editors-in-chief of that wonderful monthly magazine Columbus and the Valley. Five years ago I invited Mike to lunch. He was somewhat hesitant at first and he probably thought I was going to pitch Amway or Hare Krishna but I just wanted his company for a nice mid-day meal at Uptown Vietnamese. Well, that visit turned into a very long lunch and an invitation to write an online blog for their magazine. I chose to call it Chattin’ the Hooch – Ramblings of a Retired Mind – senior mutterings and observation on things of the Valley.
It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that it has been so long. Although I have been enthusiastic about the project, I have been more than erratic in application. Some months I would post three or four articles and then totally forget for a long period of time. This oversight was weighing heavily upon me so I drove to the offices of Columbus and the Valley to come clean.
Alas, the office was closed. 
Fortunately for me, the drive-in confessional was open and I was able to rattle off a few “Hail Mikeys” and received absolution from a disembodied recording of St. Mike. Much to my relief, they have let me stay on and I have made one of my New Year’s Resolutions to do better in the future.
The problem has not been a dearth of thing to write on or enthusiasm for sharing my “ramblings of a retired mind,” but mostly the ineffectitude (I think I just made that word up) of my retired brain in remembering to do so.
Also, I had originally intended to have two periodic features: Colorful Characters of the Chattahoochee – folks like Ralph Frank, Rick McKnight, Jerry Farber, and Butch Anthony; and Hidden Gems of the Valley – things like the Olmstead gardens at the Columbus Museum and the Slave Cemetery on 6th Avenue.
And so, dear readers here is my pledge: I vow to post at least once a month on various topics – things unique to the Chattahoochee Valley, reports of my travels, fun with my strange and wonderful friends and my elderly observations of life. You may feel free to remind me if I fall short. Also, topic suggestions are welcome.
I’d love to see you write about writers in the Valley – I just published my first children’s book – a labor of love – through the process I realized that there are so many in our community who are doing things they love and those things need to be shared. It would be fun to find out what everybody else is up to!
Great idea Brinkley. Would like to know more about your book. I have written five children’s books. I may even sell some some day. I am in a writer’s group. Send me a private message and I will give you a call.