Last week I was back at work after a great vacation. I needed the week of work to rest from my vacation. We did a lot, saw a lot and just enjoyed family time.
We did some hiking, kayaking, and a little bike riding. I love to hike. I’ve never been in a kayak before. Years ago I did a bit of whitewater rafting. I’ve decided that kayaking on a nice calm lake is a good thing for a middle-aged writer. I can do two or three long strokes with the paddle and just take in the scenery while telling the grandkids rafting stories from my younger, slimmer days.
The bike riding nearly killed me, so my plans to buy a bicycle to peddle to and from work are on hold at the moment. Maybe if I do cardio everyday for six months I might get the lung capacity to peddle around the block and my legs might have the strength to go more than 100 feet. I’d like to think that my daughter-in-law was right in her assessment that the handlebars on the ‘comfort’ rental bikes were a little, ‘lose’ and that was causing me to be a little wobblier than kids on the mountain bikes.
Weddings are always joyful occasions and while I like to be in the joyful fun, I’ve decided that most people don’t need to see me on the dance floor all that much. My dancing isn’t pleasant to watch and generally I find dance floors to be very far from the buffet line and bar.
I had hoped to be refreshed and back into full writing mode this weekend, but after writing four poems and deleting two, I’ve decided that this weekend is just a warm up for a better writing month – say in August. There are a number of writing projects on my computer that need attention, but I think I’ll do better making a batch of spaghetti sauce.
I’ve been trying to keep up a posting schedule on this blog and with a few shortcuts – like not really writing – I’ve managed to get something posted each week. A number of blogs I follow have announced that they are either ending their blogging or are taking the summer off. I’ll admit that I’ve thought of that, but have decided that I still need the discipline to keep other writing on-track.
Part of my weekly blogging routine is to check my blog stats and review what I wrote last time before launching into a full writing session. Today I noticed that I now officially have over 1,000 followers. Honestly, I am somewhat taken back at that number. I didn’t start here for that, and am just grateful that some many of you take time to read my musing.
My thanks to all of you who stop by here, read, like, and comment on my posts.
Peace,
Andrew
Andrew's View of the Week 
Probably wise that you chose the spaghetti sauce over writing. It is important to eat, and sometimes writers are lucky to get to.
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It was delicious.
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I have no doubt it was.
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Andrew, that statistic of 1,000 followers just proves that 1,000 people recognize a nice guy when they’re lucky enough to come across one!
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Well, I am one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and humble too, I am very humble…
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Your blog is funny and intelligent. Way to go!
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Thank you!
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So glad you had a great holiday. Congratulations on the 1000 followers. That is huge, and as one of your loyal followers I am confident that a steady increase in your following will continue. 🐞
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We had a great time.
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It says I have 1,106 followers but a lot of them are commercial followers like real estate or advertisers. With all those followers I don’t get a lot of views on my posts. Bike riding hurts me too.
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Bike riding is painful and statistics are a weird thing. A lot of followers are the ones just looking to get you to sign up on their blog or service. A better metric for growth is comments per post. That has been growing as well, which I am grateful for.
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Blog posting is a funny thing. I sometimes go in a circle. I either have the time and not much to say, or plenty to share, but no time to do it. I think we do the best we can, and I think summers are just harder than any other time of year. I think that maybe you could take dance lessons, which would built stamina and translate well into future bike riding. I’m sure that’s exactly the advice you were looking for! 🙂
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Summer time just isn’t a time I want to be sitting in front of the computer – so many other things to do. I don’t know about dance lessons, that could get dangerous, stomped feet, crashes, falls… Likely I’d need to buy more insurance and have an ambulance standing by just in case.
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Congrats on the stats, Andrew. As a loyal follower, I know why you have so many: You always reach out, chat, share. You create a community, not just you being ‘sage on the stage’ (as we say in education). You involve us-all. Not sure I get enough of that in the real world.
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I just figure if someone takes the effort to leave a comment, I should take the effort to respond.
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I’m not surprised by the number of followers, Andrew. Your blogs are always fun, entertaining and most importantly, real. That’s a great combination. Keep writing..:)
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Thanks for your kind words. I’ll be writing.
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The trouble with exercise is that so many methods have their dangers, particularly riding a bike in city centre traffic.
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I have an exercise bike in my house and after reading all the warnings on it, I didn’t use it for three months.
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Ah, the temptations of summer! Same here, I’m afraid – vacations, outdoor pursuits, jobs in the garden, jobs in the house…. Still, I suspect I shall be drawn back to this, my little ‘Airy Nest’, though maybe not quite as often, until the fall. Have a great summer, Andrew!
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My daddy use to say, “Summer time and the living is easy.” Likely, I’ll still write, but not as much as in the winter. Writing does feel like a winter sport.
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Sometimes you just have to take a few extra days to get back into the swing of things. Glad you had a great time.
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Sometimes you need a vacation from the vacation.
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I can relate to that. 🙂
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I’ve always wanted to try kayaking — on a lake, like you said. Once as a kid I had access to a canoe at our lakeside rental cabin and I spent hours in that thing, gliding around the lake.
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The kayaking was fun, I’d do that again.
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You post interesting, funny and insightful stuff. I have enjoyed being one of the 1,000 here and on HW.
Beth
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Thanks for stopping by Beth – I hope that some of my stuff helps make the world a little better place.
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