Wednesday, December 5, 2012

gone

sunrise from home
December 5, 2012

Gone.  This is the label I use in my Google Reader to mark blogs I follow which haven't had new posts in several months.  The list seems to be growing by the day.  I miss some of those bloggers as if they were real life friends who have moved away.  I wonder how they're doing and hope life is treating them well.  Every so often someone surprises me and comes back from being gone, like The Ohio Nature Blog and The Skeptical Moth.  Dang kids and new jobs seem to get in the way of regular blogging.  

I can't say I have those excuses.  I have been a bit lackluster in my blogging routine this year. The dry dreary weather and now windy rain have discouraged me from going out as much as I would like.  In large part to being otherwise preoccupied, I have also missed posting whole sections from my photo archives, like a camping trip to Morro Bay and a couple outings to Fort Ord.  I have already ID'd many things that are easy to photograph and narrow down to species; now all I have left are annoyingly perplexing unknowns and exceptionally crappy photos. However, I'm not giving up, yet.  My hiking should inform my blogging, rather than the other way around as it has been in the past year or so. I think this transformation of intent has really shown in a lack of curiosity in my blog posts.  I want to get back to truly enjoying hiking for all the things that drew me to this activity in the first place - being outside, clearing my head, getting a little bit of exercise, and simply enjoying nature. I'm not closing the door on Nature ID, even though my posts may become fewer and fewer for a while.  I'll see you when I have something fantastic to share. Blog on!

4 comments:

Imperfect and Tense said...

Wow, sounds like a fun project! Though admittedly, I haven't a clue about what's involved in writing a screenplay :o(

Rest assured, you won't be 'gone' from your legion of Nature ID followers :o)

Good luck from Tense Towers

Hugh Griffith said...

I have a lot of "gones" in my reader list too. I think that among the factors that have caused the attrition is social media. Interaction there is more immediate and requires less effort. But then eventually you realize how shallow and besieging social media are and you quit that too, only to return to a decimated blogscape. I'm not "gone" yet, but certainly aren't as "here" as I used to be. I still read my old favourites though, including Nature ID.

Cindy said...

Maybe we and you have cycles just like in nature. Also regarding social media, I find that I often post some of my photos and zinger observations first to my Facebook friends and then with more thought, research and often with spontaneous input from my FB friends, I get a clearer picture of a story that eventually ends up on my natural history blog. Right now I am talking to my Facebook friends about all the mud I am dealing with. It's humorous complaining but the big story is the work that is going on to save a red-legged frog breeding pond from blowing out in all this rain. They are different levels of conversation but they all weave in together for me. Read on. Write on. Just do it at your own tempo. If the photos you have left are fuzzy, just go hiking and I bet you will get new ones.

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Graeme, oops, sorry. I suddenly felt shy and removed what I plan on doing instead of blogging. I definitely want something goal oriented and structured, otherwise I could easily waste a good 2 hours while getting ready in the morning aimlessly looking at internet junk. I'm sure I'll post again.

Hugh, it's funny - it was facebook that helped me realize I wanted to start a nature blog. I've since closed FB and twitter, because they seemed like a total waste of time. Like I really didn't need to know what a high school boyfriend from 25 years ago was doing in the bathroom stall with his iPhone. Really? So, why are you more absent these days?

Cindy, you're another blogger who's been absent this year, too. You're lucky you have hip friends who are interested in nature. Too many FB friends my age were only interested in kids, cooking, and inexplicably, drinking. I rarely got a reaction on FB for anything nature-related other than sunrises, hence this carryover to Nature ID. The storms lately have been a doozy. Our power was knocked out yesterday morning. Even though I could have used the laptop, our internet connection was down, too. This weekend looks good for going out!