Five Years On
It has been five years since I began this blog. It does not seem that long. It has been an interesting activity for me which has allowed me to organize and write down some of my thoughts. It has also allowed me to get to know a small circle of fellow blogger and read many blogs I have found stimulating and interesting.
I was not sure what I would do with it when I started the blog. I am a news junkie, a compulsive researcher of anything and everything, a history buff and a follower of politics in a hand full of countries. I have a background in philosophy and theology which often find me with a head of ideas concerning the great questions in life. I at least figured I would organize and vent some of my thoughts in my postings. It turns out I have a recurring theme which often appears. It is the comparison of Canadian culture with American culture. Having lived in the United States and studies a lot of American history and literature, as a Canadian nationalist, I am always drawn to try to explain the differences. This has long been a preoccupation of mine.
It has turn out that I have also revealed a little about my life here on a farm property along the Temagami River, in Ontario. It amuses me that I get more comments when I post some pictures of critters around here, (who have mostly left not to return as my life moves on) particularly my beloved Heidi, my canine companion, the constant source of joy and amusement, than when I struggle to compose a thoughtful political comment. It seem it is easier for people to respond to an image rather than an idea and the personal rather than the thoughtful.
From the beginning, I thought of the blog in terms of a metaphor of a river passing by with me occasionally tossing in a pebble to leave my short lived temporal impression on the stream (of Life). The metaphor has a real image for me which is the Temagami River, which crosses my land. I love rivers . I particularly love "my river" which even as a child I thought of it as a river of romance and wilderness. It is probably the main reason I bought this property 30 years ago. My very first posting on September 28, 2005, was about the river as a place to sit and toss pebbles in the stream.
Without getting all theological about it, I find the solitude of being close to Nature as the closest I can get to the Sacred, the interior sense of the holy reaching out to the Holy of our external reality. (I often write like this without using that most problematic word "God".)
I guess I will continue to write in this blog about things I think are important or amusing as long as it meets a need in me to publicly reach out and express myself. I hope others may find what I write interesting and stimulating for them but basically I write not for others but for myself.
Finally, a spinoff from the blog has been emails I have been moved to write to fellow bloggers when leaving a comment on their blog is never enough. With a few some of these exchanges of emails has been extensive at times, often more personal then we would have written within the confines of the blog's comments. This has been a further enriching experience for me. A few people I have gotten to know "well" this way in spite of having never met. This is surely a strange medium, at the same time impersonal and personal (occasionally revealing more than we should). I hope to continue to have email extensions of the blog from time to time.
I always look forward to reading other peoples blogs so blog on for now!
posted by Tossing Pebbles in the Stream @ 8:52 a.m.
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10 Comments:
I sure hope you blog on! Love stopping by to see whats going on with you. You have become a very dear friend whom I look forward to meeting one day.
Five years is a long time. I've been reading your blog for two and a half years now. I don't remember how I found you, but have all ways found you interesting. I love your pictures, and of course Heidi! I hope you blog for many more years.
Hey! 5 years! I am not far behind. I know I do enjoy reading your posts. I have learned a lot more about Canada than I ever knew before... and certainly do enjoy the pictures you post. As much as I enjoy the animal pics, my favorite shots are of your property, the river, the cabin, your barn, and especially the pictures in the snow, tho after last year I can no longer say it never snows here! Still, the homestead pics are warm and comfortable, the kind of place that appeals to me.
I guess it is also comforting to find a kindred spirit, even if he is a thousand miles away...
I remember one time when your computer died or the service died and I got so worried I actually called up there to be sure you were OK. Its like some of us develop a blogger family, someone we like to check in on, hear from, know that they are OK.
Glad I met you! Blog on!
PS - we only got about 5 inches of rain out of this system.Not bad compared to the Western Shore and NC.
Happy anniversary on your blogging.
Of yourself you said: I am a news junkie, a compulsive researcher of anything and everything, a history buff and a follower of politics. . .
Well, Philip, you could be describing me too--or at least, I resonated saying "me, too" as I read your litany of interests.
I am happy to count you among my blogging friends, people I would otherwise have never "met."
As for the propensity of bloggers to comment more on critter posts than philosophical ones, yes--I think that happens for me too. I am always bemused to see the comment numbers by blog post. I think one of my most commented upon blog was when I wrote about old-fashioned names.
Congrats on five years! Many more, too. I can see that I'm behind on a couple of your posts, so that's my next stop!
We've been moved for just over five years now, and I could have sworn that I knew you back in the other house and then lost track of you for awhile. I obviously would not make a reliable witness.
PS: I have noticed this on my blog too to some extent. I think it's often easy to drop a comment on the light stuff, but one doesn't always want to drop a light comment on the heavy stuff.
Hello again my Pebble throwing friend.... those ripples have caught my eye many a time and your writing as always interested me... more so on how you live, your way of life and how you prepare for the coming winters... and how you cope when the snow falls...
I was one of the ones that probably commented more on your pictures.. and then more again when the pigs and dogs were shown.... I will never forget the sight of your wood piles... that was a really eye opener for me... I have never taken my centrally heated house for granted ever since. I recall seeing your beautiful stove... what a stunner that is.... I have marvelled at your surroundings, your views, and the road that passes by your place... The image of how the snow gets stacked at the sides of the road is another one that comes to mind when Britain come to a standstill at an inch or two of snow on the roads. ha!
I am not a regular visitor to any blogs now... my way of blogging as bounced around in different ways and I am finding the blog I do now suits my needs. I of course appreciate your comments left.. and it is nice to know we can still pop up at each others and feel a homeliness about the place.. I enjoy the emails we sometimes send and I consider you a true blog buddy and more.
Here's to the next 5 years.. and what they bring
Your Hydonian friend from Cheshire England
Five years! I think that's about how long I've been at it too, but I'll have to check to be sure.
I love the name of your blog! I spent some of my childhood tossing pebbles in a stream and especially skipping rocks!
I have always enjoyed your blog and hope you continue to blog on and on, as they are always interesting!!
I hope you go on blogging too!!
I'm with anvil cloud on the comments. I read everything you write but sometimes I am left speechless (commentless!) because you are so knowledgeable and I am not!!!
My hubby doesn't blog but he is a far more interesting person to talk to than I am and is interested in the same things you are as you may have noticed in the car last week!!
I love your remark about our Olivia and if I had what you had they'd have to knock me right out!!!! I still look at those pictures and marvel that you have your vision still.
Congrats, Philip, on 5 years of blogging. I am fast approaching my 5 year anniversary at the end of the month, too.
I'm not much of a political person, so the posts you do about things around your home, the weather, the animals, the garden, etc... and the pictures are what I look forward to.
And thank you for visiting my blog regularly!
Take care.
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