Dear Friends:
Continuing in what seems to be a tradition since 2020, I save the last post of the year to thank you, my readers.
This year was far less predictable and far more unexpected than I could have anticipated.
Even though I "claim" to be a homebody, I somehow managed to go to seven countries and five states this year. I completed my first full year and set of seasons in New Home 2.0, got promoted, got some very needed personal feedback which - although in theory about Iai - was really about life, hiked in the Grand Canyon, lead a small group for the first time in over 15 years, performed publicly on the harp for the first time in 30 years, attended three Iaijutsu seminars, and managed to grow peppers.
This year also saw a final (and heretofore) unexpected turn at The Ranch, the final relocation of The Ravishing Mrs. TB, and the arrival of A the Cat. And, I got a new car.
It has been a bit of a year.
I have commented before that writing a blog is for me a form of therapy. In meaningful ways, I am more "myself" here than I am in the real world. And yet, while this literary therapy is useful in and of itself, it helps to have company.
In other words, writers write to have others read their work.
And so, my annual grateful thanks to you, my readers.
Thank you for the gift of your time and interest, the two greatest gifts one person can give to another. Thank you for your comments, no matter if you only ever comment once. Thank you for your thoughts and inputs and sometimes helping me to clarify my own thinking.
I have no idea what 2026 will look like, or even what I will write about. While I am overall happy with the programming I set up for myself last year in terms of days and what to write on, I do not know that everything I was writing was as fresh at the end of the year as it was at the beginning and pushed me as a writer in the ways I need to be pushed.
Thanks as always for your support.
Your Most Obedient Servant,
Toirdhealbheach Beucail
Thanks for the pat on the back TB. Reading a blog such as yours gives this old fart something to look forward to as well as to learn "stuff" from both from you and my fellow commenters. Now to return the recognition.....for all the thought, effort and time you put into this blog TB....THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks Nylon12! I am glad that I can contribute something to your body of knowledge (And I know - the commenters, right? So smart.).
DeleteThanks for being the first (virtually) smiling face I see every morning when I log on.
Thank you. I really enjoy the visit, even if I don't comment much. Your writing kicks something over in my head at times. I really like that. Merry New Year!
ReplyDeleteSTxAR - I am always glad when you do comment, and understand that not everything needs a comment.
DeleteHonestly, one of the best things that could have happened to me was that when I started, I had no-one comment. That taught me to write regardless. In our current age of Social Media, if I had to count on followers to drive my work, I would either become extreme or just quit (which, interestingly, often seems to be the case with modern "Influencers").
Thanks go to you, TB, always providing thought-provoking content. Delighted this morning to see your comments on my blog. I've just read your last three posts and wanted to tell you I have read just about all of Wendell Berry's fiction (the Port William series) but none of the non-fiction other than snippets here and there. With some Christmas gift cards, I will definitely acquire some of the ones you named. Best to you and your family in the New Year.
ReplyDeleteBob - Thank you in return, and you are so very welcome!
DeleteI am assuming that by reading all of Berry's fiction, it is good - which does not surprise me, given what else I have read of his. If you are planning a read, I might start with The Long-Legged House, then The Unsettling of America, and then The Gift of The Good Land. I actually first encountered him in The Unsettling of America - which is very well written, but is in some ways very much a product of the times (the 1970's). The Long-Legged House includes a lot of his backstory of how he moved back home, which in retrospect informed my understanding of him.
Have a blessed New Year's as well!
And back atcha. TB, I know it's a lot of work to write, so I want to add my appreciation of your blog and your posts. Always something interesting and thoughtful. Yours is one of the blogs I visit first in the morning. Thank you.
ReplyDelete