I am Don Watkins. I’m a FOSS advocate, a correspondent at Opensource.com where I have the privilege of working and writing with a great group of individuals who are passionate about all things open source. I am also a husband, father, grandfather, Navy veteran and Secular Franciscan.
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Meta
Country Contemplative 
The blog looks great. 🙂 And the name is charming. Welcome Don.:-)
Very interesting blog. I’ll be back!
I was just wandering sites while working on my blog. This is great. faith and Reason are compatible! Very nice job, I will be coming back.
peace and all good,
Carl
Thank you. I’m glad to have visited your blog as a result of your comment. That’s the beauty of blogs. They are a truly uniqe way to communicate. I’m glad that my writing spoke to you. This has helped me too. I never “journaled” prior to having a blog. My wife has been journaling all her life or at least all her adult life.
I really enjoyed visiting your regular blog and the Fort Wayne Secular Franciscan blog too. 🙂 Don
I just found your blog while Googling Ghandi’s quote (to get it right!) about Christians being “so unlike your Christ.” Thank you for an outstanding example of how a thoughtfully designed and developed blog can communicate the incredibly rich and diverse knowledge, interests and complexities of ONE individual’s life experiences well exercised and effectively lived. (And I’ve read only your front article; ‘about;’ and your blogroll titles!). I will be back for more, and I will use your site to inspire me as I learn how to create a blog in WordPress (my 2008 goal). Without hesitation I send you my admiration and gratitude for well-written and interesting content, AND the YouTube video has finally broken my resistance–I must tackle YouTube and see what it is all about!
I am humbled by your lovely comments. Thank you very much. 🙂 Don
Hello Don,
I’ve enjoyed your blog for some time without commenting, so it’s time to say hello. Or, to give away my location, I should say “G’day”.
In particular, I think your blog has a good mix of the personal and the spiritual. Some “religious” blogs are rather theoretical and come across as a “voice from nowhere” (and there’s a place for that), but I appreciate your reflections on real events, people and places.
Tomorrow I am lodging my formal request to be received into the local fraternity of the SFO. Thought you might like to know there’ll soon be another Franciscan reading your blog.
P+B
Myzomela, I’m flattered that someone from Australia reads this blog. I never knew when I started writing my thoughts that they would get very far away, but you are testimony to the power of the internet and blogging. I’m sure you’ll be received into the order. Being in the SFO is special. God bless you and keep you in peace. 🙂 Don
I found your blog after posting on mine under the category mindfulness. I’m fairly new to blogging but have started Older Eyes – Thoughts on Growing Older. I’m sixty-five. After reading your About page, I’d say we have some interesting similarities. The primary difference wold seem to be that I’m “spiritual but not religious,” but after reading a bit, I like the personal (and not preachy) tone of your writing. I’ll be back. Take a look at Older Eyes if you are so inclined.
Bud
Bud, Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your comments. I took a quick glance at your writing and I’ll spend some more time soon. 🙂 Don
Oh Don, when I read you are a pilot, I heard bells go off.
There is an animal rescue organization of pilots who fly rescue animals to new locations. If you are an animal lover, I bet they would love to hear from you.
http://www.aplaceforall.org/news_-_pilots_n_paws
Here is a video on You Tube of one of their rescues. It is so beautiful! I wish I was a pilot with a plane for this reason.
I love the blog.
Enjoy your blog. Thanks for posting.
Don,
love your engagement on We&Co & thanks so much for helping spread the word through your network.
best
Ryan
Hi Don,
I met you around 2008 when, as a student at Houghton College, I sometimes I attended services at Mt Irenaeus. I check in with your blog every now and then, knowing that I’ll find something thoughtful and engaging. I appreciate your varied interests and how active you have stayed in your ‘retirement.’ Best wishes to you on this Feast Day of St Francis.
sincerely,
robin
Thanks for the update. I am enjoying my retirement although I’m very active. I merely switched gears. I’m co-teaching a robotics class for middle school age girls at St. Bonaventure University and I’m a community moderator at https://opensource.com/users/don-watkins where I have authored dozens of articles and kept learning about software, hardware, diversity and lots of other neat stuff. Happy Feast of St. Francis to you as well. Peace and all good.
Don, I’ve been wanting to create my own blog
and wondering if you can offer me any direction.
Mike
Mike,
I’ve been on WordPress.com since 2006. It’s the best solution out there in my opinion. I’ve had WordPress hosted on other hosting providers too and it’s just easier this way. WordPress is a great platform and you can elect to use a theme that is mobile friendly which is what mine is. I started out on Blogger.com and that’s a good place to start but WordPress .com has all the tools. This year I decided to have my own domain rather than being a sub-domain on WordPress.com. I think I pay about $30/year for this.