Research Break

A few months back I decided to start this blog as a way to promote any books I might put out there for the general public to buy. It has turned out that keeping the blog current is far more demanding than I thought at first. It also turns out that I have been using writing for the blog as an excuse to avoid working on the books. Talk about a real “Catch- 22.”

So I’ve decided to take a little time off to research one of the books that’s been lying on the pile waiting for me to get back to it. I hope that those of you who have been dropping by every so often will forgive my lack of posting. I don’t expect that it will be a very long time, but I’m determined to not have the blog block the books.

I hope those of you who are preparing for the return to school have an interesting beginning for the new school year. Since this blog is read by a number of very nice people who do not live in the United States [Side Note #1: Thank you friends in Russia, Germany, Korea, and Denmark.] let me explain that here in the United States we close our schools during the summer months. This was originally started to let the children return to their family farms and help out during the main growing season. Of course since the United States is no longer primarily an agrarian country and many of the regions that still maintain farms are actually mega-farms that are run by companies and not families, you’re probably asking why do we still maintain the closing of the schools during the summer?

Well we have turned from a country that had our main employment during the summer months on farms, to one where the main source of seasonal employment is in what we call amusement parks. You know, that collective of scary rides like roller-coasters, really bad foods like deep fried Twinkies, and crowds that force you to wait in lines in the hot sun for hours to ride on one of those scary rides that will turn that bad food lunch you had before you entered the line into a projectile you toss over the side of the car on the ride. [Side Note #2: Today we have rides that have no cars at all. Just seats, that hold you in while the ride tosses you around and turns you upside down. A sure fire guarantee that the lunch, your twelve year old blackmailed you into letting him eat since it was after all a vacation, will soon be scattered all over the area under where the rides tracks lie.] [Side Note #3: Yes, you’re right. I rarely took my children on those rides. They had to wait until they were old enough to go by themselves. I’d like to point out in my defense against charges of child deprivation, that when they were old enough they avoided the rides all by themselves.]

It is in those amusement parks that our young people find work during the summer months. Coincidently their teachers also work in those parks during the summer. The teachers are trying to make enough money during the summer so that next year they can be good parents and take their children on trips to places that have those same amusement parks they worked in. It does seem to be basically the same thing as before, where during the summer children worked on the farm to earn enough for their family to be able to afford food.

As you can tell I clearly need to stop writing. Until we meet again, good luck and keep writing