Going forward

If you noticed the headline on yesterday's post you will have figured out that I republished my very first blog post to acknowledge my 15th anniversary of blogging. I started my blog after a 30-year career in journalism that ended as my liberal local newspaper left print behind and went digital. They needed to seriously reduce the staff and my job was eliminated as they reconfigured the newsroom.

Most of the people who left were like me: long-time journalists who were nearing retirement. None of us was ready to leave and we definitely were not ready to see our daily paper fade into the ether. 

All this is to say that I taught myself to blog to show that this old dog could learn new tricks. If you go back to my early posts you will see that they read like newspaper or even magazine articles; long, literary and covering a variety of subjects. Over the years I've pretty much concentrated on gardening as that has consumed more and more of my mental and physical energy.

I used to check my stats but haven't done it for years. Mark, however, took a look. He said that in fifteen years I've put up 3,005 posts or 200 times per year or every 2 days; however one wants to break it down. I've averaged 222 page views per day or 404 per post. You've commented 16,328 times or 5.5 per post. Not exactly an influencer or as influential as a number of you whose excellent blogs have resulted in books, lectures and more.

These days I'm self-publishing my own garden books but I was on the lecture circuit for years; going back to the early 1990s using slides. I've got a library of over 7,000 slides that are all archivally filed, labeled and cross-referenced and I'm on my 26th volume of hand-written garden journals.

All of which is to say that I'm 76 years old. If I want to read more, draw more, make more books, see friends more — do anything more often — then blogging needs to happen less frequently. How much less?? I'm not sure; but definitely on a more random schedule when I have something to share. I know many of you only at a distance. But I've met a surprising number of you in person because you brought a tour here (Daniel Mount), were visiting Madison (Flingers, Kris in Kansas City) or you live here and read my newspaper columns long before I stared blogging. 

I may be ready to blog less but I'm not ready to give up all these blog-related relationships. My e-mail is listed on the blog so we should all be able to keep in touch easily. I will try to see if I can find a system that works for you to sign up for notifications when I post. And you can also do what I do on many blogs I read, just periodically stop by to see what's happening and leave a comment. I will still be here and I know you want to see how our road construction project finally turns out!

Let me close by saying that the idea of blogging less makes me feel panicky. For 45 years the first thing I've done almost every day is sit down at a computer of some kind and start writing essays, op-eds, editorials, lifestyle stories, columns and blog posts. It is going to be a hard habit to break. 

The first image is a snap of all of us who left the newsroom in 2008. Some of us, me included (in the blue sweater center left), are automatically smiling when faced with a camera. But you can see on some faces what a very bittersweet moment it was. 

The third photo shows Wisconsin native Daniel Mount leading a group of PNW gardeners on a tour of Midwest gardens and prairies. 

The fourth photo was taken the day Daniel Mount's tour group visited our garden. Blogging has resulted in me becoming interested in photography and in preserving the history of our garden, in words and pictures.

The last photo shows the crew putting in the new storm sewer in front of our property. They've now started to prepare the roadbed for paving, but that's still a ways away.

Comments

[Kristin]

Well darn, but I get it. I will miss regular posts, but do have you in a feed reader, so you will pop up when you do post. I have enjoyed this blog very much, and I thank you for it. Looking forward to visiting you & Mark when the road project is finished and we are back in Madison!

[Linda Brazill]

KRISTIN — I have greatly enjoyed spending time with you in person. We're hoping the road is done by the end of September. The drought has made it possible for them to get ahead of schedule. They mostly didn't work yesterday, except for a survey crew, due to the heat I'm hoping. They worked the day before when it was 99°. Ugh. We were going to put out a cooler full of water and then realized another neighbor had done it.

Hoping to get back to gardening now that it's going to cool down for a week. But it sure would be nice to get more rain.

[Chavli]

Yours is the second blogger I follow to announce a hiatus this week. Although sad for me, it is well deserved. It's a massive commitment (I couldn't do it). I'll check in periodically, of course, as you have one of my favorite gardens.

[Linda Brazill]

CHAVLI — Thanks for those kind words. When you get to this age, suddenly you realize that if you want to do certain things, then others have to go in order to have the time and energy to go forward. I love reading blogs and have enjoyed writing mine, so we'll see how this all works out.

[danger garden]

Good for you! I thought going from 5 blog posts a week to 3 as I did back in 2021 would free up a tremendous amount of time, somehow that's not the case. The rewards are many, but blogging takes time and energy for sure. Since I'm alerted to new blog posts (from those I follow) in a "reader" format I will be sure to catch your posts when they go up!

[Linda Brazill]

DANGER - I think I went from 5 to 3 days a week around the time you did. And it’s true there is no noticeable time savings, especially if you write informatively and include all the Botanical Latin etc.

[Kris P]

15 years!!! That's a terrific accomplishment, Linda. I appreciate your inclusion of your personal history here. I'd gleaned some tidbits, like your background as a journalist, but it's nice to have that history filled out a bit more. I've been blogging 10.6 years now and dropped my posts to thrice a week a few years ago in an effort to manage my time better but I've considered dropping the frequency further, in part because I feel I'm becoming repetitive. I wasn't a journalist but my second career in human resource management involved a lot of writing and I find it hard to let go of that too. I drafted a novel at one point but wasn't happy with it and shelved it.

I look forward to your periodic posts, as well as your comments, as time permits. I'm very glad you're not pulling the rug out altogether.

[Linda Brazill]

KRIS — Thanks for those kind words. I have to agree that we do become somewhat repetitive  because we write so much about our own gardens and favorite plants etc. I see your name in the comments of blogs I follow. Add reading and commenting on the blogs we follow and there is a lot of time spent on that in addition to writing our own. Like most gardeners I keep making changes because I'm tired of something and updating to deal with climate change. So I think there will always be something new to say.

[Barbara H.]

Bittersweet. Sure get the time commitment thing - for readers as well as bloggers. I just unfollowed quite a few Instagram folks - partly because I'm irritated by something totally unrelated that happened earlier but also because it eats up so much time just reading and looking. I've enjoyed everything you've shared and have always been impressed by your garden. We are the same age and I, too, am seeing that I need to start making some time and energy decisions. Best of luck, Linda - it can be hard to let go. I have you Bookmarked so even though sometimes I'm several days late I get here eventually.

[Susie at pbmGarden]

Linda, I enjoy your posts, the tranquility of your garden, your artwork (and your husband's). Thanks for sharing it all and I will look forward to seeing your updates when you venture back to this space.

[Elizabeth]

You do what you gotta do, Linda. In my line of work, the adage is that you have to pick your battles, meaning that a person has only so many resources and so much time -- choose what's important to you. You're on my short list. I'll be reading as long as you keep writing. You have given me much, for which I am grateful. Thank you.

[Beth@PlantPostings]

Congratulations, and your decision to cut back is understandable. I've had a similar journey, both with my career and my blog. My communications positions were in business, but similar schooling and journey to garden blogging. I still love to blog, but have already cut back a bit. I'll continue as time allows because it's fun. Cheers to your accomplishments!

[Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening]

I've been struggling with the same conflict of not-enough-time, or is it too-many-things-I-want-to-do? I write a lot of blog posts in my head that never get typed. I've read the advice to turn your Instagram posts into blog posts, but I know myself: before you know it I would be editing the photos and adding details to the writing that Insta's limitations did not permit. I don't have time for that! And yes, that's why I post on Instagram--because it does limit me (and automatically sends it to Facebook as well).

[Jerry]

Although I have been reading your blog for only a relatively short time, I understand the need to do other things in your life. I certainly didn't realize how much time it would take me to make individual blog posts when I started, but there is always something to do a little more research on before I put it down in writing. Best wishes for achieving what's next. I look forward to your posts as time allows. Have fun out there!