Today, like Scheherazade, I spin my 1001st tale.
I jokingly wondered in a recent post if I would remember to notice when I reached the arbitrary milestone of 1,000 posts on this blog. As it happened, I did forget. I had to go back and add a note in the last essay recognizing that it was my one thousandth post, but perhaps I can be forgiven for that oversight. It wasn’t one of my better writing days, after all.
But, having thought about it a bit, maybe I should go ahead and pat myself on the back a bit for making it this far. Even though it’s not anything special, other than one of those things that fascinate human beings above all else: a number with a lot of zeros in it. Even though, technically speaking, I’ve posted more than one thousand and one posts (I recently removed a couple of posts that poked fun at the Spam I receive on the blog; I decided they didn’t add enough to the discussion to merit further inclusion). Even though this is a backwater blog, never referred to in the media, seldom noted by anyone but myself, hardly ever read by the very relatives for whom I originally started the effort.
Because, just as we celebrate minutiae in our household for the sake of a good time, pausing to commemorate something as inane as writing over one thousand essays can be pleasant. Particularly when Michelle brings home peanut butter/chocolate ice cream to augment the celebration! She’s a good wife, that one.
I’ll refrain from launching into a self-congratulatory reminiscence of the last 3+ years, full of fond anecdotes that “modestly” highlight my self-perceived talent, vision and dedication.
Instead, I’ll simply observe that 1,001 posts justifies the release of my latest ebook. I’ve been astounded to learn from various newcomers that they have gone back to the beginning of the blog and read it all the way through. I haven’t even done that, and I’m supposedly my biggest fan! The ebook is a better way to get to the essence of the blog without sifting through all the fluff pieces (such as, not to put too fine a point on it, this very post!). I don’t want to discourage anyone from reading from beginning to end, but I do feel compelled to recommend the ebook as a shorter, less arduous route to learning what the blog is about. As is looking over our Web site.
That may be my biggest failing in terms of “packaging” the homestead for public consumption. This blog is an offshoot of the Web site, which is the central focus of our presentation. I think, though, that it has been a bit eclipsed by the blog, which has more keywords to offer search engines than the image-heavy site.
On top of that, the “homestead” portion of our Web site has always played second fiddle to our boat building pages. I have to accept that fact, considering that our Web presence started with that focus, and there’s a lot more interest in building a sailboat in one’s backyard than in living in a cabin in the woods.
I’m sure it’s also obligatory that I assess the future: where do we go next? Nothing earthshaking comes to mind. This will continue to be, above all else, the rambling musings of a forest hermit and his family. I doubt I’ll spring any new look and feel on you, or anything of the like.
Dang. Look at this. I got all introspective. Time to wrap this up and go outside and play. Which I invite you to do as well.