Pleasantville, Ohio is among the sleepy, little hamlets that hold a special place within my heart. On the surface, it seems not much more than a scattering of clapboard architectures, a railroad, a post office, an abandoned mill, hominy plant, and an Odd Fellows Lodge.

Within my own lifetime, I have witnessed the disappearing of a locally owned hardware store, which was indeed one of my favorite places to shop. Not because I have had the need to purchase hardware, plant seeds, or even plumbing, but because it was as great of an adventure as rooting through grandmother’s attic. Here, one could find bolts, seeds, soup, and just about anything that one had need for. It was all tucked away within an antiquated corner store, which would have been familiar to my own great-grandmother, who grew up in rural Pleasant Twp. The name of this nifty, little establishment was Wildermuth Hardware or “Wildermuth’s” if you are local.

I have also witnessed the disappearance of the community’s only common area, which consisted of a pie shaped, corner area, which was located within the center of town. The corner had spring loaded riding toys for tots, a couple of benches, and was the place to be as a prenager in the not so distant past.

While these vestiges of a bygone era are now non existent, I am happy to see that in her own quiet way, Pleasantville is going to perhaps enjoy another hurrah. A local museum and two locally owned eateries have entered the scene! There is also a bit of a variety store on the corner, which I believe to also be locally owned. Perhaps, the best part is that people are now starting to congregate on the corner, which is directly in front of the variety store. Here, people play cards and chat about the old days. There are newly built schools and a swimming pool. Much to my disliking, there is also a corporate chain store. While it may be convenient, I am secretly hoping that someone will open a local store and that people will patronize it. In a small town, it’s all about taking care of one’s own.

Pleasantville is the subject of a local history, which I am currently in the process of composing. I hope to include much of the area’s rich history both obvious and obscure, but honestly, I wouldn’t be me if I did not focus primarily on the obscure.. In my own humble opinion, it is the obscure that illustrates an area’s unique history.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.