How Powerful Am I?

I'm not one of those people who think that the universe revolves around me. In fact, pretty clearly, it revolves around my husband. I'm a mere planet in his orbit. Of course, I'm the planet who makes his meals, does his laundry, sends the greeting cards, talks to his parents, and sleeps by his side, but that's not important right now.

I'm saying that I know I'm a mere speck of dust in the cosmos, with no more significance than any other. And yet...

The first time I started a blog was June 12, 2008. The next day, one of America's beloved newsmen, Tim Russert died at age 58, totally unexpectedly. We news junkies freaked out. I kind of dropped the blog like a hot poker, but not because of Tim's death.

Here I am, a year+ later, and I'm all ready to start up a blog again, this time in earnest. (Ernest who, I'd rather not say.) Just as I'm getting ready to go, my personal hero Gwen Ifill (told you I was a nerd) informs me (and millions of other viewers of Washington Week) that Walter Cronkite has died. Gwen was visibly choked up-- the first of many iconic journalists to display that kind of gut response to the loss of 'Uncle Walter'.

When I got over the initial feeling of loss, and shared this with the C.O.T.U. (Center of the Universe), (no wonder he's called 'the Hub') I got to thinking about my almost-on-the-web blog, and the Tim Russert experience. Spooky, huh?

So, not that there's a cause and effect relationship here, and I know that I surely didn't want the world to lose either of these fine men, but what a coincidence...

Was some great Webmaster in the sky trying to tell me to keep away from the blogosphere? I sure hope not-- I just spent the past couple of months reading a dozen or so books about blogging. Wouldn't want that to go for naught. And my daughter and son, who've been urging me to do this for several years wouldn't be pleased at all.

So what to do? Well, I let the appropriate mourning period (assuming there is such a thing) for Uncle Walter pass, and I launched my little blog. Should I have warned Katie Couric, Jim Lehrer and Charlie Gibson? Naaah... I'm not that powerful.