Blog Anniversary

I awoke around 6am this morning to the sound of rain tapping on my windowpane. The room was dark and cold, so I tucked the covers up under my chin and snuggle down deeper into the warm bed while the soft music of the rain sent me back into dreamland. I didn't hear another thing until 9:30. Yikes!!! Half the day was gone. Those 50k bike rides last week must have taken a bit more out of me than I realized. They sure were fun though. It looks like we have three days of sunshine coming up this week, so we are all set to hit the trails again tomorrow. I should really zip along after that huge sleep last night shouldn't I?

It is now almost noon and it is still raining, so I am enjoying a lazy morning responding to email, catching up on reading blogs, and even taking some time to indulge in the total luxury of putting a few thoughts down on paper. I love how a rainy day brings creativity to me just like it brings moisture to the gardens. It primes the pump and causes the thoughts and feeling to flow again. I do love a rainy day.

I started my blog last May, so this is my first anniversary, and I am taking a moment this morning to look back at where I have been and also wonder where to go with my blog from here. Do I still want to pour time and effort into writing a blog? The real question is: do I have anything else to say? I am not sure. For everything there is a season and this seems to be the season of my life for blogging, but at times I wonder.

There comes a time to step away from the laptop and just soak in life for a while. When the sun is shining and life calls me outside I have to listen and enjoy all the beauty of that season while it is here. The long cold days and nights of winter will soon be here again and lots of writing will happen then. For most of the summer, my blog might be neglected. I have tried taking the laptop out onto the back deck to write outside, but I can't see the screen out there. Drat! I might have to resort to the old pen and paper while the sun shines.

I sure have learned a lot from you all this past year and have made some wonderful friends out there in blogland. I would miss "talking" to you each day if I stopped blogging completely, so this is just a summer holiday break. I haven't met any of you face to face, but feel like I know you and have come "heart to heart" with many of you.

I have a picture in my mind of Mel, Wash Lady, Gina, Jen (X2), Iona, Karla, Heather, Katt, Norma, Swampy, Loner, Cat, Dale (X2), Lynn, and JV. They feel like family and I check in with them all each day and wonder how things are going in their lives.

I care about "Princess Mole Whacker" and laugh and cry with her at times. I printed out her Sharks, Loss and Snowflakes blog and have given it to many people in pain. Thanks Mel.

I have learned so much from Wash Lady and appreciate her wise words of advice to me and others. She has been through a lot and we all benefit from her life lessons.

Gina over at Just Another Day wears her glass slippers quite well, and I enjoy reading about her antics with Mr Personality each day.

Katt over at Bamboo Shade always has delightful and inspirational quotes and pictures for me. I copy and paste all the quotes into a Word file so I can later enter them into my quote data base. Yes, I am still working on that project.

Heather's new bike brought me joy too, and her sister's story about their dad's dandelion bouquets will visit me each time I see a field of dandelions now.

Cat's Place is a fun spot to visit and I love her memories and tales of England, open toed sandals and letters to Tide. I am wondering why the blog isn't called Moggy's Place though. I do love moggies. Do you Cat?

Loner's new found love is a cause for celebration and her dad's amazing spirit during his battle with cancer is inspirational.

Dale at M&M in M brings tears to my eyes and touches this mother's heart when he talks about his struggles with Dan and Meagan. When we become parents a part of our heart does walk around in the body of another person and it just plain hurts sometimes. Thanks for sharing so openly Dale. We all walk the path with you and feel for you.

Dale over at Tales from the Wayside makes me laugh right out loud. His antics on the small air plane had me in gales of laughter. And his "Laughing at Cats" is a real hoot.

Iona over at Circles and Squares helped me decorate my guest bedroom and has encouraged me while working on my kitchen project. Her photos are a work of art, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them in a book some day. I would buy one in a minute.

Swamp Things posts amazing photos each day too, and they are absolutely breathtaking. Oh the beauty of a snake, lizard, tick, spider, frog, toad, and last but not least, the Rainbow Scarab. What a cutie he is! Swampy's photos bring beauty and wonder into my life each day.

Jen over at Daydreams talks about dealing with physical pain, but the blogs that really touched my heart were The Result and Faith Story.


Lynn sitting at his computer on State Street has challeneged me to think and research different books and authors. He pointed me to "A book of Luminous Things", which I love, and has encouraged me to write. Thanks Lynn.

My heart was torn in two when Karla lost little Ava, and I continue walk beside her in spirit as she copes with grief and loss right now. I feel like I know her, and she is part of my family, a sister of the heart. Hang on sister dear.

How close we have all become in this blog circle of ours. I wonder how much we are like the people we have pictured in our mind's eye. If we met, would it be the same as meeting the radio announcer we have pictured perfectly from a voice, only to be surprised beyond words when we really see them? Here in blogland we don't have an audio voice to go by, but we have the written voice which is far more revealing, indelible, and clearer. We see each other in each and every word clicked and clacked on the keyboard. Here's looking at you kid.

This laptop monitor is only about ¼" thick, but it is a window on the world, and I see far and wide through it. I must raise my eyes from it and look at the world close to me every now and then, so I have something of this life to reflect back through this window to all of you peering in at me. Fun huh?

I so enjoy looking out through the many windows in my life every morning to see what is going on in my garden, and over in Holland, down in Florida, across the miles in Alberta, along other roads to Georgia, California, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, and last but not least around the corner to assorted nooks and crannies in Ontario.

Goodness, I have rambled on quite a bit in this blog haven't I? So many people have touched my life in blogland during the past year and have become more than just passing acquaintances. On this one year anniversary I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your lives with me each day. I look forward to reading regularly this summer even if I don't write every day. Next week we are heading away for a month's holiday so my blogs will be few and far between for the next little while. I will check in with stories, updates and pictures when I can.

Talk to you all later. Happy Anniversary!