A Small Introduction about the Author

February 23, 2010


Hello all!

I believe that I done what I inevitably do with every good idea that I have, that is gotten ahead of myself. Yes, the first fundamental post was a basic synopsis of the blog and its intentions. However, I managed to exclude speaking about myself, and as the author and father of this blog I believe that it my be necessary to write a small article about myself so that you, the reader, can get a clear picture of how naive I really am, and how much I have to learn.

My name is Edward and I live in the wonderful state of Nebraska, now before you start talking about how it is flat, barren, and smothers creativity I would like to argue the contrary. First, Nebraska's population may be very limited, but the people here have great ideas, enormous potential and brilliant personalities. I live near Omaha; the population is sitting around the 800,000 mark. Where we lack in activities we make up for in improvisation. I, being an avid outdoors enthusiast, love the fact that I can drive for 15-20 minutes and end up in the country, where inspiration and silence consume the soul. There's something special about being in the open expanse of country, the flat green rolling hills. My favorite inspirational spot is a patch of land that my family owns, just north of Bennington. As you approach the land you drive past cornfields and small dilapidated farm houses, if you take the right route you can drive through a small town known as Elk City. I believe the population of that city sits somewhere around the 20-30 mark; the town has one bar, The Ponderosa, and two roads. The first is the paved road that cuts through the center of the town in a North-South direction. You can see the sites of the town on this road, the white church, the white city hall, both with white picket fences. It is like stepping back in time, maybe to the time of Willa Cather, seeing what the towns must have looked like in their infancy. If you take the rock road that leads to the church and city hall, you will surely see the graveyard. This graveyard has gravestones which date to the late 1800's to the early 1900's. Quite rustic.

Anyway, once you drive through this small town and take the highway west you make a few more turns and you find yourself at the entrance to the land de Vogel. As you drive down the private road you become encompassed by a think forest of cottonwood trees. In the spring it sometimes looks as though it is snowing because of the way the cotton floats off of the trees onto the ground. Once you fully traverse the road you come to an open clearing, this clearing is not natural or by happenstance, but rather a result of hard work by my family. We cleared the cottonwoods out of this area, and before you get angry at the destruction know that we did this for a purpose. First we wanted a clearing for aesthetic purposes, but ultimately we cleared the area in order to create a pond. So, it is this beautiful and aesthetically pleasing setting that is perfect for inspiration when writing. Once you end up at the clearing you can take one more road, this one leads to the river. The Elkhorn river may not be the prettiest river in the world (far from it, because of its green and mud based color) but its sounds and wildlife continue to entertain me, and affect my writing.

Now you know where my inspiration lies, out within the woods near the Elkhorn River. I just wanted to share that with all of you, most likely because I will be writing a lot about that patch of land. My writing lately has most likely suffered (as you can probably tell) and when spring time and warm weather finally comes around I will be visiting that area much more frequently.

Now, a little about myself, not the land. I am 24 years old and currently student teaching English at a high school here in Nebraska. Once I finish my student teaching career I plan to start my masters in English and hopefully attain that degree in about 2 years time. From there I plan to teach and most likely work on my Ph.D. in a specific field, not sure which yet though. I have a wonderful girlfriend and an equally wonderful family; if it weren't for them I wouldn't have half the ambition. My interests are literature, philosophy, writing, the outdoors, and things of that nature (You could have guessed).

I do hope that you enjoy this blog, much more creative and insightful posts (like the first post, poetry, short stories, and the likes) are on the way soon!!