After several days of digging thru Google discussions of the issue, I think I found the solution. My early searches kept pointing to an issue with the sitemap. At that point all I was finding for a sitemap url was one that placed
atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1&max-results=500
after the root of the URL. When I would try to use my Google Search Console to enter the site map, it acted like it was taking the site map. However, when I would return to the Search Console, no sitemap would be listed.
So I kept digging and finally came across a post indicating that Google had changed the site map URL. The new URL ending is much simpler:
sitemap.xml
Thus, I entered that into my Google Search Console and waited. Each time I've returned to my Google Search Console, the site map is listed with the word 'SUCCESS'. I've also been able to search Google for my blog posts and find them -- including very recent posts.
Thus, I think my issue is resolved!
