Like a good song or a vivid memory, we remember a few words or phrases from those people and events that touch our lives. When I have had the opportunity to visit museums, cathedrals, or even old neighborhoods that preserve little bits of collective human memory the world usually seems smaller, and our cultural history shorter, than I remembered before entering.

Having reached the age where my grandparents and even parents cannot contribute to the information storehouse we call the Web, I see the opportunity to share some history in words and images as an opportunity to capture a few of their footprints.  Nine months ago I started the Bluecircle Farm at Paw Paw Lake in Watervliet MI as a personal journey to rediscover or live  at least some aspects of the self-dependent lifestyle my ancestors and their friends brought to this country in the last 200 years.   I expect that everyone comes away from their brushes with “cultural history” with a different set of emotions and probably new ideas, new insights.  As the trees, vines and other parts of the Bluecircle grow I hope to share them here.