LynnRMitchell.com ... new posts daily

By Lynn R. Mitchell

This is an invitation to come over and visit us at LynnRMitchell.com. We are a group blog with regular contributors Kurt Michael who is our managing editor, David Karaffa who is on the Augusta County Board of Supervisors, Daniel Cortez who is a distinguished Vietnam veteran and award winning writer-broadcaster, and myself. I serve as executive editor and do much of the writing and photography.

We opened up shop in April 2014 and by year's end we had published over 900 posts from the four regular contributors and our 23 guest writers who covered a wide variety of issues.

I started my SWAC Girl blog in February 2006 -- almost nine years ago -- and have been writing on an almost daily basis since. However, I find myself posting less and less at this location since starting LynnRMitchell.com in 2014 so we would love to see everyone head on over and check us out where I still post everything from back roads to historical sites along with coverage of political issues from veteran politicos.

LynnRMitchell.com ... come on over and join us.

Say hello to the new LynnRMitchell.com blog at WordPress

Blogger, we've had a long-time affair going back to 2006 but it's time for me to move on. This will remain the SWAC Girl blog for posting my mountains photos and personal writings -- for now -- but the harder hitting news and political feedback with photos are now published at LynnRMitchell.com.

The paint's still drying and I'm still putting up the curtains but it's time to open the front door and invite everyone inside. Come join the party with some friends who have joined me on this new group blog adventure -- check out the Contributors page and the About page that tells what we hope to achieve.

Join me ... the hors d'oeuvre are ready so stop by and browse at LynnRMitchell.com. See you soon!

It's Smokey Bear's birthday with a party on Twitter

It's Smokey Bear's birthday but this Boomer bear is keeping current as he celebrated with a party on Twitter Friday afternoon. From 1-2:00 p.m. @Smokey_Bear, the 69-year-old interacted with fans in an interesting mix of nostalgia and reminders of fire safety tips to prevent wildfires as birthday greetings came in from across the nation.

In what was the highlight of my day, my tweet was answered by Smokey and I got a virtual Smokey Bear hug! For just a moment or so I was six years old again.

Happy Birthday @smokey_bear! True story of a cub rescued from forest fire ... became icon advocating fire safety for millions.
— Lynn R. Mitchell (@swacgirl) August 9, 2013

@swacgirl True #SmokeyBearHug <|:') \ / <
— Smokey Bear (@smokey_bear) August 9, 2013

And, oh yeah, I signed his birthday card, too.

Perhaps the most interesting piece of information gleaned from the exchange was the question, "Have wildfires increased over the last few year or has social media and TV coverage just made us more aware of them?"  Smokey's response: "Since 1950s, gone from 22 million wildland acres burned to less than 7 million today. There are differences in local conditions."

Smokey signed off from his birthday party on Twitter:

This has been the best 69th Birthday a bear could ask for. Thanks for joining in! #SmokeyBDay
— Smokey Bear (@smokey_bear) August 9, 2013

And he followed up with one last reminder....

And, remember, only you can prevent wildfires. On #SmokeyBDay and on every day of the year.
— Smokey Bear (@smokey_bear) August 9, 2013

Happy Birthday, Smokey! See you next year....

Smitty links to Kaine post

Many thanks to Smitty at The Other McCain for linking to one of my posts about Democratic Senate candidate Tim Kaine. Thanks, also to Smitty, for his service to our country. I got a heads-up from fellow SWAC blogger Fishersville Mike who posted a neat thought. Thanks for the email and the link, Mike!