Day 365 - The Final Countdown

Just over a year ago, I was in a writing rut. For years, I was working on trying to publish picture books for children. It has been one of the harder journeys in my life. Besides being ridiculously competitive, it is very time-consuming and requires extreme patience and a very thick skin. I sometimes struggle in those areas. The emotional roller coaster one feels when writing for children is unlike anything I’ve felt before.

When I needed a break from picture book creations, I decided to take the advice I received from others and try something new. I’ve been lucky enough to give presentations at different educational conferences in regards to my educational philosophy and outdoor program. After many of these sessions, I've had people say how I need to write this all down so that other public school teachers can hear my story and hopefully create their own. With a ton of work and a whole lot of luck, TEACHING OFF TRAIL was born. While it hasn't reached a level of success (yet) out in the real world, I am so proud of it and hope others are too.

After my book was published, I focused on publicity and promotions for the book and took a break from writing new material. When I decided to warm up my pencil again, I decided to try a different route. Rather than re-enter the picture book world, I started the daily blog you’re reading right now.

This was in honor of another writing challenge from days gone by. When I knew I was going to be a father, I created a blog and decided to write 200 stories of 200 words sharing anecdotes from my life, classroom, and eventually fatherhood. While I haven't added anything in years it’s still there to enjoy (DADventures (dargatzdadventures.blogspot.com).

So, while my daily entries are over for now, I plan on keeping everyone updated. The adventures will continue even though my daily updates will not.

That being said, there is only one solution to all of you who will be desperately missing my daily farm fiascos and adventures.

Come visit Craneview on Plainview. I’ll be ready to show you around. :)