A Two-Way Street!

I can't believe it, but here I am writing my blog post #1000.  Who would ever know that I'd keep on so long, enjoy it so much, and develop a great network of 'blogging friends' across North America by doing so!  Blogging is definitely a 'two-way street'.  I create the blog, but it gives me back several-fold.  And  I send it out there in the electronic ether, but you my readers, and writers of the blogs I read, give me a reason to keep doing so.

I'm going to illustrate this with some pictures from the past 5 years of writing this blog, but let's start with a seasonal one.  I'm hoping for more snow next week that will give us scenes like this this year.

This is a waterfall that's usually just a trickle, but over the winter it can build up if temperatures stay cold.  Perhaps the biggest benefit of blogging is that it has got me out exploring around the valley, finding sights and getting pictures I otherwise never would have seen.

 I think I used this picture or one like it in one of my very first posts.  It's my favourite image of walking the Bruce Trail, which I do a lot.  And a lot of my walks end up as blog posts.  Along the way my photography has improved enormously as I try different approaches to getting photos.

The valley itself, one of the more scenic places in Ontario, especially in the fall, has been fun to explore.  I'm so glad we live along the Niagara Escarpment, which creates all kinds of interesting scenery, including waterfalls and cliffs like the one above.

I also love the woods and the trail in summer.  It still astonishes me that in spite of the intense development in southern Ontario, I can easily find places to 'get away from it all' and not see another soul for hours.  The challenges of volunteering to help care for the Bruce Trail just make life more interesting.

It's not always the landscape of the valley; writing the blog has made me appreciate all kinds of small details right here in our yard (and helped get some great photos).   It's made me much more aware of the small changes that add up to four different seasons here.  I simply enjoy the natural world out there more than I otherwise would, because I'm always noticing things.

I'm not much on wildlife photography, but sometimes I just get lucky!  I've learned how the light, the sun and blue skies as well as the time of day at different seasons, all have a huge influence on your photos.  And I've learned to (almost) always carry my camera with me.

I also love the fact that we live in an agricultural landscape, and because of my volunteering, I know a lot of local landowners.  These horses are at the local fall fair, but I'm constantly aware of all the seasonal changes in farming as I drive around.  Watching for planting, growth and harvesting of crops has become second nature to us.

I do go beyond the valley occasionally, and I'll probably do more in the future rather than less.  This is sunrise on a canoe trip on the French River in northern Ontario.

I wish I had more chance to photograph sunsets, but I'm working on it!  In the future I'd like to use the blog more to do series of posts and tell stories that can evolve into articles or even books.  That remains my goal, and all the photography and writing I do for the blog pushes me in that direction.

But there's also the huge benefit I gain from all of you who read this little blog and from all of your blogs that I read - there's that 'two-way street'.  I get inspired and encouraged by what many of you post on your blogs.

Those of you who blog about setting explicit goals and working toward them provide a good example for me.  Those who are working toward publishing books, or have done so encourage me to keep on trying.  Those who share your daily life with its struggles and blessings reassure me.  Those of you who have had the courage to share your personal loss have really helped me the past 8 months. Those who report on hikes and travels inspire me to expand my own ambitions.  And of course those who post beautiful photos push me to keep learning more.

So in the end, I'm very glad to be writing this blog; let's start on the next 1000 posts!