Ten Years On

We first posted at this site on January 1, 2009, exactly ten years ago.  Rural Ways has, remarkably, survived a tumultuous decade.  In the past ten years, most newspapers have cut staff, reduced editions, and added pay-walls.  We have done none of this:  Rural Ways continues to pay its staff (just as much as we paid them on the first day of operations), and to produce hard hitting stories that are free to its reader.

What has evolved, however, is our content.  On the first day of 2009 we wrote that this would be "the story of our attempt to turn a 19th century parcel into a 21st century home."  Given that statement and the somewhat old-fashioned name of this publication, our reader might be forgiven for expecting a few notes about small towns, home renovations, and gardening.  Indeed, we supplied many of those stories early on.  Today, however, what you will generally find is that we are posting about hiking and biking in the southern Utah back-country.  The newspaper should more properly be called Knowledge of Desert Trails, or something.

This shift might be partially explained by two factors:  First, we have, to some extent finished.  Our Homestead renovations are at an end.  We have upgraded the kitchen, added gas heat to the coldest rooms, and converted the sleeping porch to a painting studio.  There is less work than there used to be simply because we have finished with many of the biggest projects.  Second, the demographics of our staff have changed.  When we began, EDO was a goofy five-year-old who, during hikes, often liked to be carried.  After ten years, EDO is a super-fit teenager, hustling through a dozen rugged miles per day.  This has pushed the rest of us to update our focus from arts and crafts to outdoor athletics.

At this point, one might be tempted to ask about the future:  Can Rural Ways survive another decade?  Will we alienate our reader with our evolving editorial line?  Is there anything fresh or exciting in store?  At this time, GAO plans to shift his office from central Utah to northern California while the girls continue to manage and maintain The Homestead.  EDO's interest in athletics, particularly running, will continue to emerge, and VSO will turn some of her attention from fine art to the more prosaic pursuit of a part-time job.  Our reader should expect, then, a few new stories from the eastern Sierra, perhaps some posts from another home renovation, and plenty of pictures featuring desert trails.  Welcome to a new decade.