This goofy little blog

I'm an alpha male in a numeric world.

Meaning, words mean more to me than numbers.

Writing is an extension of thinking.

I'm Scotch Irish by descent.

And Scotch Irish folk are prone to verbal sharing.

Jokes. Stories. An inherent interest in other people. Because our ancestors were stuck on these cold, rainy outposts and strangers brought a chance to tell old stories new and the possibility of learning something.

I started writing this thing for two reasons.

First and foremost, to leave a written history of my thoughts for my children.

I was inspired by my maternal grandfather. As Irish as a McLarin can be.

He scribbled poems, stories, thoughts and stored them in what he called his "mellow box".

According to my Mom and my sweet aunts, Papa John would often go to that box and wallow in the good and sad thoughts he had written for only his consumption.

Oh, how I wish I had that box. I would know so much more about my family and me.

On my dad's side, there are great stories. My great-great grandmother was a Cherokee. One of my distant aunts was born at home during a battle in the Civil War as a Union cannonball came thru the house.

Sadly, these great stories aren't written down, and I wasn't astute enough to get them recorded when Big Papa and Momie were alive.

So, I hope this written record will provide my children and their children some history and some idea of what a knucklehead their dad, grandpa, great-grandpa and so on was.

Secondly, I am continually inspired by the words of my oldest son, Peter.

On his tombstone in Melissa, Texas are his words. "I want to foment change in this world."

Pete isn't physically here to do it. But his spirit drives me to ask, question and search for truth that can make a difference.

To date, their have been over 40,000 visits to this little mellow box.

Many repeat customers. And many new folks from around the world.

United Kingdom. Canada. Iraq. Iran. Slovenia. Russia. Norway. Singapore. China and Hong Kong. Australia. Ireland. Afghanistan. Iceland. Italy. Japan. Switzerland. Finland. France. Spain. Brazil. Turkey. Netherlands. Norway. Israel. Ukraine. Mexico. Belgium. New Zealand. Kuwait. Poland. Sweden. Poland. Vietnam. Kenya.

79 countries to date. And all 50 of the United States of America.

This world wide interweb thing is apparently catching on.

Dear reader, if you've gotten this far, I thank you. And I hope something in this combination of writing and typing has been worthwhile for you.