This Blog Turns 10 Years Old Today

Ten years ago on this day, I started a blog with a post (see Introducing the The Zeiger Homestead Blog). Then, as I recall, I vamped till ready. I had agreed to participate in a group blog on self reliance, and the rest of the group wasn’t quite prepared to launch, so I had to stall for a bit before getting to more meaty subjects. Some days, I wonder if I ever actually got around to that?

Today, as then, I find I have little to actually say. How to adequately commemorate a project that has consumed so much of my life?

Sifting through 10 year old photos, I find I still like this one especially (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

The stats don’t impress. We started out unknown, and grew to modest readership over the decade. It’s not like I can celebrate a massive following, which I’m not complaining about (too much)—a simple blog about simple living just isn’t for most 21st Century Americans. That’s kind of the point!

Now, with just shy of 2000 posts published, and a bunch of drafts, many of which will never see the light of day, it’s hard to encapsulate the experience. Particularly, it’s difficult to do it from the lovely living room of my aunt and uncle’s house in Washington state. Refrigerators, flush toilets, hot water on demand—how do these relate to our homestead, other than by contrast? I’m awfully far from the source to adequately celebrate a milestone like this.

The irony here is that I have some great ideas, and, as I noted previously, the internet speed to accomplish it (see I’ve Got the Tools, But Not the Project). But, I’m reluctant to devote the time to do it, as it detracts from visiting. It doesn’t help that my aunt is one of the few of my relatives who faithfully reads the blog, which was originally started to keep family informed of our doings! You know how I do love irony, but hey, everything in moderation, okay?

Okay, it was a really good day in August 2009. I was out hunting spider webs, lit by the slanting light This is the shelf on the ridge above the cabin. (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).

Which I guess gives me an excuse to let this post hang here for a while. I doubt I’ll write anything new until after I return home on September 4th. Please join us again then, or maybe wander through the older posts while you’re waiting? We’ve got 10 years of the stuff here, after all!

Thank you all who come here to read the blog. We have a few readers from the earliest days, and we appreciate you all. We literally would not bother if it weren’t for you! And, especially, thank you for those who support the blog through Patreon and other ways! Happy Anniversary.