I've come a long, circular way.

Funny thing. I'm going through a phase. Of writing about my neighborhood. A whole lot. Maybe more than any other topic. It's just temporary. I'll eventually switch to other subjects. Anyway, guess I became aware that I really didn't know my neighbors and my neighborhood as well as I should. Or wanted to. So I'm focusing. Learning. That's a good thing. Never too late to learn. To become acquainted. Maybe I was more attentive about my neighborhood when I was a youth. In the 6th and 7th grades. Must have been 12 years old. And I started a neighborhood newspaper. In Watertown. In Wisconsin. Where I grew up. It was called the Riverlawn Gazette. The family lived on Riverlawn Avenue. And the intersecting streets were Duffy Street and Ruth Street. I wrote about the goings-on in the neighborhood. Much of it satirical stuff. Though I didn't quite yet fully consciously grasp the true and full nature of satire. Came sort of naturally. By osmosis. The Gazette was well-read. And I sold it. Door to door. For a token penny. Though I'd get tipped sometimes. Maybe a quarter. Which was big money in those days. Back in the late 1940s. Technology wasn't as good as today. I printed the newspaper on a gelatin called a hektograph. Later, my printing press was a mimeograph. Of course, I went on to write for more legitimate newspapers. That became my profession. Writing. My livelihood. My craft. My art. And now I'm publishing. On the Internet. A blog. Called Broede's Broodings. I've come a long, circular way, haven't I? --Jim Broede