I have been contemplating what to do with The Park over the past several months.  Should I just let it go by the wayside?  Should I delete the blog and start over?  Revamp?  Retool? What should I do?  Then I thought about it…I am going to keep The Park.

At some point in my life back on April 7, 2005, I started The Park.  I wanted a place where I could write about anything I wanted.  I love to write and I am very opinionated about many topics.  The Park morphed into a place where I could talk about my love and passion for NASCAR without fear of ridicule.  Along this journey I met other NASCAR fans who I have come to call my friends.  But since the death of both my parents in 2011, I lost my passion for lots of things.  The tremendous grief over losing both of them within 8 months of each other is difficult to understand unless you have been there.  I lost quite a bit of who I was during that time including my love for NASCAR.  I would still watch, but nothing seemed right.  Part of who I was died with both of them.  I was uninspired and frankly, I just didn’t feel like writing.  I have slowly and deliberately traveled down this road of grief to find myself again.  The journey is still ongoing and it will for the rest of my life, but I am a place now where I can begin writing again.

Now for the good stuff…I will still continue to discuss NASCAR, but I want to write about other things.  These “other things” will cover mainly topics about sports, but I will also write about things that inspire me or frankly, piss me off.  I will not discuss my political views, religious beliefs or moral beliefs.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good discussion about things, but The Park has never been a place fo those kind of volitile discussions.  I will on occasion post things that will be deemed private.  Only those who are given permission will be allowed to view them.  You might say, then why post them, well frankly, writing is therapeutic for me.  I have saved thousands of my hard-earned dollars by writing.  I encourage people to comment on my posts whether you agree or disagree.  I love a good discussion.  All I ask is you keep things respectful.  Sometimes it is better to not comment than to comment.  Always ask yourself before posting, would you say this to someone in person?  That’s my guideline on anything with regards to social media.  If I would not say it to someone to their face, I don’t hit the submit or send button.

So with that, WELCOME TO THE PARK!  And to get things started, let’s take a look back at one of my favorite posts from March 30, 2006…“The Big Green Book Bag”