Releasing the Content, Starting with Yellowstone

There are over 20 posts at varying levels of readiness lumbering in my WordPress Drafts folder. Life being one of constant interruption is a dismal excuse for not finishing a thing.

In blogging, my post-writing SOP is to vomit with fingers on keyboard a significantly lengthy piece (1,500+ words) while the details of such are still fresh in my head.  Provided the kids are occupied and I have no such other interruptions, it takes only about an hour.  Later, as I have chunks of time, I will start-and-stop the process of whittling it to a kinder, shorter read, say, under 500 words — the real chore.  By the 10th re-visit, cobwebs begin to build, I get less and less satisfied with the result, and opt instead for something…easier.  Meanwhile, the best posts just sit and sit and sit.

Some things are not meant to be whittled.

I’m not sure when it was my readers’ short attention spans with Twitter and Facebook and Instagram (none of which I engage) began to affect my writing. A regular photo post or punchy lists seem to be the magical recipe for a reader’s precious minutes.  Too often that same reader will get bored with all that black-and-white on the screen — or anything that requires scrolling or loading — and just Alt-F4 the whole freakin’ window.

DirtNKids is my space in the digital world, written by me, for me.  I’m probably my most frequent visitor here!  It’s a bonus that people may want to share in that experience, that people even follow my blog (thanks, Readers!), but it has never been the end game.

The protected natural beauty that encompass The American West is a piece that begs for words, many words, descriptive words, flow-y words:  words of the poet.  I’m no poet, and truncating thousands of photos and a detailed journal into chunks that can be consumed on a screen seems sacrilege, if not rudely dismissive.  These wide open spaces deserve the words, the experiences of everyone who has witnessed them first hand.  These stories  are important and connect us to our world.

These three videos of The West are now free from my drafts folder, whetting my appetite for the beauty of that place and pushing me to do more. I’m a bit ashamed that a mini photo post and another from a short person’s perspective were all I shared from that magical place more a year ago.  It’s time to get reacquainted with this year’s account in order to experience Yellowstone’s beautiful east side whenever I like — digitized on my own blog in my own words.  The post I started months ago is about to be.

Here she blows, spewing forth with slightly less regularity than Old Faithful but erupting juuuuust a little longer each time. I’m freeing the words, starting with my beloved Yellowstone.

♥

Durango and Silverton High Line.  Our family enjoys a 4-hr train ride from Durango, CO to Silverton and back again, satisfying all the train-lovers of our clan.

Old Faithful.  Yellowstone is packed on all the tourist places at the end of summer, when we went.  It took us a half an hour just to find a parking space.  He went to inquire about when the next eruption would be, I lifted my camera and began recording.

Grand Teton National Park.  We chose to stay in rustic cottages to impress upon the children how wonderful it is to live without the conveniences of our modern day.  The girls straight away began clearing a spot for their weekend garden, pretend of course.

How big is your Draft Folder?

Next post:  Yellowstone!