since I last posted. I had all the best intentions of telling everyone what we were doing on a daily basis, but frankly, it was the same thing much of the time, day after day, and as we had settled into a routine, I didn't really want to record all that.
However, over the long term, some things have changed significantly.
In 2016 I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Nothing critical there, but watch the food intake, exercise (Yeah, like that's gonna happen) and take my meds. So far, after three years, it seems to be under control and my eating habits have definitely improved.
I have become totally involved in the Boyle County African American community. I am doing research on black families and writing a book on the history of African Americans in the County, and have participated in several historical confabs both here in Danville and in Frankfort, for the African American Genealogy Group of Kentucky. I don't want any black person in this county to say they can't trace their ancestry. And I must add that county officials have been very supportive of what I'm doing. It's not a stretch to say that my best friends here now (other than Barry of course, and Cindy) are African Americans. I feel truly welcomed in the community.
Since last posting, I have had the wonderful chance finally, to teach on the college level. Eastern Kentucky University offered me a chance to teach "The Appalachian Experience" for two semesters, until they decided that I was not qualified, and needed a teaching mentor (after 39 years of teaching and 3 advanced degrees).
Then, I was given the chance to teach "The African American Experience" for three semesters. The first semester was fantastic -- about half the 20 students were African-American, all over 65, so they could really add to what I was teaching, to the benefit of the 20-somethings in the class. The second semester contained some of the brightest and most engaging students I have ever taught. The third semester, well, let's say it was a job.
But during that time I was able to really research African American history and issues, to the point where I understood what was going on in the black community better than many of my black friends -- and I was able to HELP them to understand what had happened and what was happening.
Retirement is often a time of extensive reading for teachers, and mine is no exception. I can't say I have bought more than half a dozen books since retirement, BUT I have discovered the joy of reading on my phone or my tablet, so my "Kindle" account has many books in it, and I have read (or am reading) every one of them.
Isabel Wilkerson's "The Warmth of Other Suns" and James Loewen's "Sundown Towns" are my most recent. Both explain much about the "Great Migration" of blacks to the north in the 20th Century, and problems they faced there (it seems odd referring to the North as "there" but I AM after all, in the south.
With increased prices and expenses, travel has not been much of an option for us.
1. Sep 2013, Xenia, OH, to present the Buster story -- a slave from Monticello, KY, who lived in Boyle County, purchased most of his family and moved to Xenia, OH -- presented to the Buster family.
2. July 2014, Yellow Springs, OH, to present the Buster story to the Greene County chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, and visit friends in Yellow Springs.
3. Oct 2014, Knoxville, a favorite city, wandering around and finding a British pub, having "Bubble and Squeak".
4. Apr 2016, Columbus and Springsteen -- the concert of a lifetime for me -- it cost me much of my hearing, but it was, quite frankly, worth it.
So now, as 2019 is here, I'm settled down at the computer, pleased at what I've accomplished, and feeling a sense of contentment, because all of my work is up on the Internet, where anyone can access it freely.
And now, maybe, I'll write some more. But it probably won't be about daily life here, because that doesn't change much. I will write about politics, because I am disturbed by what is happening to my country.
In the meantime, I'll get caught up on past events.
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