Thanksgiving — a classic day to reflect and be grateful.
May your day be full of good friends and family, or perhaps a quiet day with a good book and solitude – however you spend it, find a moment to consider your blessings. And if this day finds you struggling, know there is always someone out there willing to listen and wanting to help. We are all in this together.
~ Kat
Three years ago this week, I took the leap and hit the “publish” button for the first time. The blog “Travel. Garden. Eat.” entered the blogosphere. Three years of blogging = 314 posts, 21,118 visitors, and 48,048 views.
As I begin year four of my blogging journey, it is interesting to look back on posts of interest — whether yours or mine. Some have been shared far and wide, others that I hold dear because of the memories they evoke may have stayed closer to home – it’s all good. When one first tentatively puts that post out for public consumption, whether the effort is viewed or “liked” holds more importance, but I think over time that becomes less and less a point of attention. Instead, this blog continues to be my creative outlet, for words and images.
“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
~ Anaïs Nin
The topics of traveling, gardening and eating merely serve as a base — life is rich and varied, and I think blogging often provides the opportunity to remind oneself that the little things in life are often the most rewarding. A walk in the woods can be just as rejuvenating and eye-opening as a journey across the sea. Our own backyards often yield just as much interest as the backyards of our neighbors far and near.
The most viewed posts over the past few years reflect that philosophy of interest near and far. For the five months I blogged in 2012, the posts with the highest views were all in response to Weekly Photo Challenges — a great way to engage bloggers on a wide variety of topics, and help inspire a little creative stretch from time to time! The challenges of Big, Renewal, and Everyday Life generated the most traffic that first year.
In 2013, traveling and eating both were reflected in the most viewed posts:
Moving on to 2014, one of the most popular posts for visitors was my visit to the Apostle Islands’ Ice Caves, “It’s Not Too Late for the Party: Day-Tripping to the Apostle Islands Ice Caves.”
And, finally, 2015 — a year not over yet, but one in which I finally returned to gardening in “Gardener’s Mecca in Minnesota: An Illustration of the ‘Why’” for the most viewed post this year-to-date. Interestingly, one of my older posts, “Iceberg Lake Trail ~ Glacier National Park” also has been a popular post this year — it is a favorite travel memory, so always happy to revisit that one!
“A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.”
~ Ansel Adams
Thank you to all who have followed along since the first year, as well as those who have joined more recently — all 989 of you (spammers and all — I don’t flatter myself to think that I have almost 1000 engaged followers, but I am grateful and amazed by how many truly interesting and engaging bloggers and readers I have met along the way!). For a little celebratory fun, I updated the look of the blog, and welcome any feedback you have — Font hard to read? Like the layout? Miss the old look? All comments welcome.
Thanks for reading – blog on!
Ciao! ~ Kat
Spanish moss hanging overhead, lush foliage creeping into the nooks and crannies of a wooden bridge, water so still that each peaceful detail is mirrored with precision … Charleston’s Magnolia Plantation has many spots of serenity.
Ciao! ~ Kat
This post was in response to the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge. ”Serenity” was this week’s theme. Everyone is welcome to join in the Challenge; further details on how to participate and links to others’ responses are found here.
Hmmm, this left me musing about my NaBloPoMo experience. I successfully created 30 posts in 30 days. Would I do it again? Not sure. Perhaps not at this stage of life, with a full-time job and two teen birds still in the nest! However, it was a great reminder to make time for blogging, which is such an enjoyable, creative outlet. And, it was also a good reminder that sometimes a “good enough” post is truly good enough.
How did your NaBloPoMo experience go?
Ciao! ~ Kat
For many of you, November was a blur: a crazy, beautiful, writing-filled blur. We encouraged WordPress.com users to participate in BlogHer’s National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) and post something every day in November.
Participants had a lot of fun this month: we discovered great posts in the NaBloPoMo tag page and enjoyed pieces like A Sign of Life‘s “A Rose By Any Other Label,” in which E. talks about labels and being an INFJ, as well as posts on Stuphblog, like “The Trauma Doesn’t End When the Abuse Does,” which was honest and emotional.
We also loved the variety of content — any type of post qualified as a post, from single photos to inspirational quotes to longform essays. The blogger at How Anxious penned a month’s worth of poetry, while Gwen at Little Growing Pains published a mix of poignant writing with nicely crafted…
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