I've just read an article from The Wall Street Journal given to me by Jack LaGue. It's about old timers like me - bloggers over 50. I had no idea there are so many of us, but on the other hand it never occurred to me that perhaps it was unusual for older folks to blog. According to the author, Ronni Bennett, even four years ago she turned up only "a dozen or so" older bloggers, and now there are thousands. Bennett writes about aging on her blog and remarks that "aging isn't the sexiest topic in town." Isn't that the truth! There's not much about getting older that's fun or exciting, let alone sexy; but some of us gain confidence and if we're lucky maybe a little wisdom as we gather candles on our birthday cake. I don't know that age has given me much wisdom, but I've certainly found out there are lots of intelligent and interesting folks out in cyberspace so I'd better be careful what I say.

I agree with Ms. Bennett that blogging is a great way to make friends or to set down and firm up your musings or opinions, but I believe there are a lot of people, especially older folks, who really don't want to use a computer, for whatever reason. And that's okay. What I think is really important is for people of any age to tell their stories. I really like the idea of keeping a journal or a diary. I never was faithful about it myself, although I made feeble attempts to keep a diary when I was in high school. I think it was too much work to write in it regularly and I lost interest in favor of writing stories or silly poems or sketching, like most teenage girls. I have read some wonderful diaries that were written long ago by both men and women and that were cherished by their families for years before being turned over to our historical society. People took time to write thoughtfully and diligently back then, and sometimes one can get a real sense of the person and life as it was years ago.

My grandfather Bolton always kept a diary. His were filled with accounts - business transactions with the storekeepers, his neighbors, or his family. He didn't write about his feelings or his plans, disappointments or achievements. Just the important stuff like the weather and keeping track of income and payments. He noted how many dozens of eggs were shipped to Boston, how many loads of hay they took from a certain field, when the corn was planted and when it was harvested or how much maple syrup was made. He kept close account of the hours worked and wages paid to hired help. He noted how much was paid out for flour, molasses, sugar, clothing or services. And at the end of each year there was a complete accounting of his stock - oxen, horses, cattle and other animals on the farm.

My father kept a diary, too. After he died and we came to live here in the house he and my mother had built, we often checked his diaries to find out things like how old the furnace was, when the water well was drilled, or when the septic system was last pumped. He was quite faithful about writing in his diary, and when they were older recorded when he or my mother weren't feeling well or when they took a trip or someone came to visit. Like his father before him, it was important to set down certain information, but he never indicated how he felt about anything. That, I guess, was too personal. Sometimes my mother would make entries in the diary. Apparently they shared those little books, recording bits of their life together. When my mother fell ill and died, he never wrote in his diary again.

Now, instead of diaries, some of us blog. It's a journal - a web log, thus the name "blog." Thanks to Jack and Sue who brought me that article, I've given my blogging a lot of thought and I've decided that even though my blog doesn't have a theme and lots of times not any real direction, I have at least a few readers who are kind enough to tell me they check in regularly to see what I'm up to. That makes my day, so I'll continue relaying what's going on here at Joe's Pond or in surrounding communities, letting folks know if something is lost or found, and I'll include your comments when you ask me to, and share my own random thoughts when there's not much else to write about. Blogging gets to be a habit.