May 6th, 2017 is the day my application for an account was finally accepted on the blockchain. I had received a Facebook message several weeks before from @uwelang encouraging me to check out this place called Steem. We had both been on a failed platform called TSU and I was looking for a place to fill some time after devoting the previous year caring for my partner before he died of cancer.
Back in those days it took what seemed like forever to receive an account, and
after about a month I had almost forgotten applying! I'm so glad I decided to open that email! Then I spent a month looking around before I began posting.

@good-karma had just begun developing eSteem app and I was thrilled to be able to use my mobile to use the site. Multiple Sclerosis was making it more difficult for me to use a keyboard and being able to swype on my phone and post my photos opened up a whole new world for me.
In January of 2018 I started the Shadow Contest and @ecency offered to sponsor the contest and has been the No1 sponsor for all 320 Rounds! Shadow Hunters and Feathered Friends Community were two of the first communities created on the blockchain.

The move to Hive was a relief after the centralized takeover, and after everything @ecency had given me it was an easy decision to give back! Today Ecency is my home base and I spend all my time doing what I can to help retain Ecencials and help them grow their accounts!

These tulip photos were taken this past weekend at the Chicago Botanical Gardens and I'm sharing them as a reminder to come enter the Phonography Contest hosted by @untilwelearn.