Good morning.

I chose the name Shady Grove because it's a mild play on my real name; and because it evokes old-time roots music, which I love; and finally, because it embodies my life's ambition: to live in an 1840s log cabin near a shady grove. I was reminded of this recently when a friend posted a similar goal on her blog (and she's making it happen.)

Some well-known contemporary writer--unfortunately I can no longer remember who--once said that she discovered, upon re-reading a decades-old diary, that she continually came up with the same realizations and epiphanies, over and over again. I laughed out loud when I read that. How mortifying and how true of me as well. I've been keeping a diary for nearly a dozen years. Yes, it's been enormously helpful, if only to my friends (because they don't have to keep listening to the same whiny bitching over and over gain) -- but ...

It's time to stop talking only to myself. I can't provide myself with new insights outside my own head, apparently.

For the time being I think I'll remain anonymous. Initially this was going to be a knitting / crafts / gardening blog, but I'm not fatuous enough to believe that the world would be enriched by seeing out-of-focus photos of my haphazard creative efforts. Not that I'm criticizing my hobbies -- they serve their purpose (keeping me on a somewhat even keel when work becomes too frantic) -- but I don't feel a need to crow about them. Also, to be honest, they're a little too ... how to put this ... What White Middle-Aged Overeducated Single But Looking Ladies Like.

I mean, seriously, I even have cats.

By the way, when the inspiration to begin this blog first struck me, I took a solemn vow never to brag, never to whine, never to bitch (well, hardly ever) and above all, never to be deliberately hurtful toward anyone.