After taking a three-week hiatus from my blog, I am back today. I’ve given my blog a lot of thought and I’ve concluded that it is not healthy for me to write about politics. I thought I was filling a need – and perhaps I did. I felt like God was calling me to speak up about the corruption and injustices of the Trump Regime. I believe that was what I needed to do for a while.

I wanted the world to know that all Americans don’t agree with Trump. I think I’ve accomplished that in some small way. I have connected in a meaningful way with individuals in Canada, Scotland, Ireland, England, Spain, Thailand, Australia, Egypt, Kenya, and Ghana, and Uganda in addition to the United States.

Those blog posts are out in the blogosphere indefinitely – until something replaces the internet as we know it today. People in 126 countries have read my blog in the last twelve months. That humbles me.

I ended my June 9, 2026 blog post, Post-World War II Ground Observer Corps, with the following words: “Note: This will be my last blog post for a while. There are just more pressing tasks – like sweetgum sprouts — that need my attention. One of the joys of country living. They multiply like rabbits and grow as fast as kudzu. I will sorely miss getting to work on my blog posts every day, but life changes as we grow older and energy is limited.”

The part about the sweetgum sprouts was true, but it was not the whole truth.

When I wrote that post, I had started reading a book that made me realize why I was struggling. (I plan to blog about that book next week.) I was coming to grips with the fact that I had a depression problem.

There. I’ve said it. My life is a bit of an open book. I’m told that readers like that in an author.

I’m feeling a little better now that I’m on some medication, but this is a new journey for me. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

I’m back now, but I will probably only post one blog most weeks. The habit of blogging four, five, or six times a week – mostly about politics — proved not to be sustainable or healthy for this fragile writer.

These three weeks of not blogging gave me time to read three good books. It gave me time to almost finish writing the first draft of my historical novel. It gave me time to look at the entirety of the historical novels I want to write. It gave me time to start pulling myself out of depression.

I’m spending less time devouring the news and more time listening to music. I’m working on the things that trigger my anger and sorting out the triggers I can control and the ones I cannot.

For instance, I can stop getting angry if someone cuts me off in traffic, but I cannot control Trump’s supporters. I can be frustrated with them and baffled by their beliefs and gullibility, but I cannot “fix” them. My political rants on my blog perhaps opened some MAGA eyes, but I doubt it.

I plan to get my blog back to its original purpose: my journey as a writer. That includes my journey as a reader for to be a good writer one must read – and read a lot. My journey includes the things that distract me. My journey as a writer of historical fiction includes blogging about history.

I don’t know how often I will blog. For the next while, I hope to blog once-a-week. I hope to replace quantity with quality.

Thank you for joining me for the ride. Just know that once in a while, the political science major in me might rear its ugly head. You’ve been warned! I hope I am a better version of myself in the coming months. I hope to bring you a better and less combative blog.

Next week I plan to blog about one of the books I read in June. See you then!

Janet

“I was okay just a moment ago. I will learn how to be okay again.” ~ Nina LaCour