Top Ten List of 2016

2016 is almost over.  Here is a list of the top ten most viewed posts of 2016 on An Arkies Musings.  It is always interesting to me to see what topics other people are interested in.

Beginning in January 2016, I started writing a weekly column, An Arkie's Faith, for my local newspaper. My column from the September 28, 2016, issue of The Mena Star was the most viewed post of the year with over 6,000 views. The article "Return Fire" told the story of Fort Stevens; the only military fort in the United States to be fired upon by an enemy during a time of war since the War of 1812. You can read the post here.

The second most viewed post of the year was written on 9/11. It was the fifteenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center. My thoughts as I looked back on that day that I titled, "Why Lord," seemed to resonate with my readers. You can read the post here.

My An Arkie's Faith column from the October 12, 2016, issue of The Mena Star, titled "Jump Start," came in at number three. Everyone finds it very inconvenient when their battery is dead or the electricity isn't working. You can read the post here.

Number four tells the story of a surprise party held for a dear friend. Her daughter planned a surprise birthday party and invited a large group of people. My wife helped decorate the large hall where the party was held. It’s not easy to pull off a surprise party with ninety people, but this party was very successful. You can read the post here.

The fifth most popular post of 2016 is the story of Desmond Doss and the movie Hacksaw Ridge. I have known the story of Desmond Doss for many years. When I was a young boy, I read the book The Unlikeliest Hero by Booton Herndon. In 1999 I was able to meet and talk to Desmond Doss. I'm proud to have been able to meet this humble man. His story made an impression on me when I was a boy. When I met him, I was impressed by his humility. The world needs more people like Desmond Doss. You can read the post here.

My friend, Lou Simsek, passed away on November 14. We attended the same church together for over 25 years. We both had a passion for missions. My favorite memories of Lou are from a mission trip that we made to Belize. My post remembering Lou was the sixth most viewed post of the year. You can read the post here.

For the past several years Heavener, Oklahoma has held a Viking Festival at The Runestone Park. This year my wife and I attended for the first time. My wife has Danish and Swedish ancestry so we found the festival very interesting. There were vendors with many handmade items along with activities such as Celtic music, ax throwing, horse rides, and a blacksmith. We really enjoyed the Royal Gauntlet Birds of Prey show. My post about the festival was number seven for  the year. You can read the post here.

The eighth most popular post of the year featured the Oregon Coast. After attending my niece's wedding in the Portland, Oregon area we took a couple of extra days to visit the Oregon Coast. As we visited various sites along the way I was remembering a trip that we took to the same area in 1975. I really enjoyed visiting the same places over 40 years later and remembering times long ago. I posted photos from the two trips in the post, "The Oregon Coast Revisited." You can read the post here.

Post number nine was "Genealogy Research," which was my An Arkie's Fath column from December 14th. In my wife's research she has found ancestors who were royalty along with some less savory characters. You can read the post here.

The tenth most popular post of 2016 was the history of the wreck of the Peter Iredale. Although the shipwreck happened in 1906, you can still walk out to the remains of the wreck at low tide. You can read the post here.

As a bonus I'm including one of my favorite posts of the year even though it didn't quite make the top ten. I was honored to be asked to officiate my niece Stacey's wedding. I love Luke and Stacey. They have such a zest for life. This is their story as I told it during the wedding ceremony.