The Summer Series I

“Parker, come inside and wash up!” My mom yelled from the back porch. 

She said it in a way that sounded more endearing that it was uninviting, something only a mother could do.  I think it was because of the way she stretched it out; “Paaaaar-kerrrr”.  It always made me smile.  

“OK Mom, I’ll be right in!”

I stared up to my best friend Thomas who was busy hammering in the last nail into the top board of the makeshift ladder.
“Tom, I gotta go.  I told my mom that I would help cook dinner tonight.”

“That’s fine.  I should probably head back home too.” He said with a disappointing shrug.

The Early Years

By all accounts, I had a storybook childhood.  I had what a lot of kids had: two loving parents, a couple of siblings, my own room, and a decent sized group of friends with similar interests.  We loved playing pickup baseball whenever we had the chance, and being that I was rarely the last kid chosen made it all the more enjoyable.  I was also an active member the Boy Scouts.  After my first merit badge I quickly found out that contrary to popular belief, there is more to it than tying knots and wearing a goofy uniform. 

I was able to spend most weekends outside with my Dad doing exhaustively manly things.  Soon I would be an ace with a .22 caliber rifle, could hit a soda can set 30 feet away with a slingshot and , in the spirit of full disclosure, became somewhat of a wizard with the bowline.  That’s a type of knot for all of your non-scouters. 

Welcome to Opinion of None!

It is without question that one of the most valuable qualities blogging affords us is that anyone can write what they want, when they want, and about whatever they want. Broadcasting their words to the far reaches of the world for anyone, at least those with a stable internet connection, to read. 

Among the seemingly endless variety of topics, there are thousands that may or may not be of interest to you, but nevertheless are still able garner mass appeal and therefore, massive influence.  As they say, there is power in numbers; or more appropriately, "followers" and "likes".  

Don't believe me? Head down to your nearest Starbucks or locally sourced-organic-gluten and conflict free-bistro and take a look. Chances are you'll find at least one person blogging about:

• A photographic archive of their recent or current meal;

• A "How-To" to effectively review above mentioned meals, or ironically;

• A blog which takes pictures of other people taking pictures of their meals. Who are presumably doing so for their own food-related blog.

Although the amount of influence they actually have is subject to debate, they are nevertheless apart of meteoric rise of this medium. 

I digress.