Yesterday, July 1, was my one year blogging anniversary.  So, let me indulge for a moment in the obligatory review.

     It began last year with a bit of fumbling to learn the routine, and with this post on why I chose the name Useless Tree.  It seems that for the first few months I was more US-focused and that has gradually changed to include more consideration of China stories.  Perhaps that shift was inevitable, given my day job.  But last August I posted a piece I had written about the significance of privately owned cars in the PRC, and in light of today’s story in the NYT Magazine, let me link to it here for any who are interested.

     I have not attracted a large audience – 1,000 page views a week is about my average now.  But I have met many interesting people and, even, gained new opportunities that would never have happened without the blog.  Most notably, I have been invited to a conference in October in Beijing on the ways in which Confucianism might be adapted to a postmodern world.  The invitation came as a result of this post.  And another gig is in the works, which I will divulge when all the details are arranged, that is (will be) an outgrowth of this modest little blog.

     So, there have been good things about blogging.  The best are the connections with people all over the world that the site has allowed me to create.  So, let me say thanks to all those interlocutors.

     On balance, however, it was a very difficult year, one of the hardest of my life.  Aidan died.  I did not imagine when I started this blog that it would become an outlet for my grief, a chronicle of my family’s tribulation.  But that is what happened.  And here, in cyberspace, he will have his presence, he will continue to touch those who chance upon his place here.