Hi Kevin - Thank you so much for your comments (and the compliment).
Regarding the quality of articles on Medium of late, I must agree with you. But I'm not going to give up hope! Medium is run by some very good and smart people. I think they will figure out how to promote the well-written articles and properly reward the authors of same. Afterall, that's their mission.
I've been looking at Vocal.media today. I need to spend more time with that platform before offering an opinion. Stumblestack is new to me; I'll spend some time looking at it tonight.
On a personal note, your profile mentions your love of bonsai. I also love bonsai, and 30 years ago I had a very nice collection of tropicals. Unfortunately, I was living in Chicago. The heat in my building went out over Christmas and the temperature in my apartment plummeted. I lost every single tree. Heartbreaking! But I've never lost my love for the art of bonsai.
I also love Shakespeare. The St. Crispin's Day speech in Henry V as performed by Kenneth Branagh is a masterpiece, and brings me to tears every time I watch it:
Enjoy! And let's stay in contact. All my best, Cristo