The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness

I’ve started this post at least a dozen times this year alone, and every time I delete it and tell myself things will get better, I will feel better, and I will find the space to think, dream, research, and write. The truth is, and this is clearly well overdue, this chapter that has been the Main Street Gazette for the past fifteen years has come to a close.

 

My constant companion of Rheumatoid Arthritis has left me little in the way of spare time beyond what energies I need for my traditional job and daily maintenance around my house. I do not wish this pain and crippling exhaustion that has sat by my side for the last eight years on anyone, but I do wish I could express it in words you would all understand. That said, I want this to be a day of celebration and looking forward.

 

I want to reorganize what is still here on the Gazette, delete obsolete and murky items, plus what I can, and give it a forever home so that you can find it when you’re looking for something years from now. For many of its fifteen years, there were posts here daily. Mostly these writings were from myself, but occasionally from a dear friend, or group of friends. Even when I was on trips, and before the advent of things like Instagram, I would send back horrible, horrible cell phone photos, just to slip a little something special into your day.

 

I still have stories I want to tell, histories I want to uncover or rediscover and share with you, opinions that I think have a space in the world of Disney travel, and photos that aren’t stellar, but are better than average, that I want to put out there to remind you all of the beauty of created and cultivated spaces. I don’t know what form that will take. My form of expression is writing and that isn’t the most popular form of quick entertainment for many folks these days, so who knows where I go next. Maybe guest writing somewhere else, maybe longer items on a social media outlet, a book is never out of the question, perhaps returning to some magazine writing or a podcast here or there, or something I haven’t considered yet. I’m smart enough to know what a wonderful avenue is when it is presented to me.

 

The Main Street Gazette has created so many opportunities and brought so many wonderful people into my life. Some have come and gone, some are at great distance but I feel I could pick up where we left off with just a phone call, and some are still as close to me as family. I cherish every memory and moment it the past fifteen years of magic have given me. That includes you. You may have never reached out, never connected with me, but you were there, and for that I can only thank you. Each of you has meant the world to me, and I can truly say I am a better person because I have had you in my life. I was a shy, reclusive young man who thought he had enough knowledge and insights that he could help people have better trips, that he could provide some understanding of what had come before. Now, I know I will never know everything, never be able to help everyone, but strong enough to be there for those who need me, when they need me, and provide a glimpse of insight. You gave me that strength, you helped shape me. Thank you.

 

I hope you have found a friend, a bit of knowledge you didn’t have, something that made you chuckle, or a dish you wanted to try because of the time you spent here. I hope I was able to give you something for your investment of time in perusing through my blathering. This has indeed been a wild ride, one that we have undertaken together, and I cannot wait to see what you do next, and what is next for me.