And Now For the Stats

Last month I participated in the A to Z Blog Challenge.  Wow!  I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to come up with 26 posts in 30 days.  But I did it.  I tend to be a hit and miss blogger, so having to discipline myself to write something every day was definitely a challenge. 

Between April 1 and April 30 I posted 26 different blogs on a range of topics, many of which were suggested by friends.  (Thank goodness!  I’d have been lost without them.)  To date those 26 posts have been viewed a total of 583 times.  The most viewed post was D is for D’Arcy, having been viewed 56 times for 9% of the total Challenge views, thus proving that D’Arcy is indeed awesome (and a damn fine pirate!). 

Throughout the challenge, the number of followers of my blog increased by 125%.  My ego is vehemently in opposition to my posting the actual numbers, which are much more impressive expressed as a percentage.  (I went from 8 to 18 followers.)  Still, I’m good with that. 

I personally read over two hundred challenge posts from other bloggers.  There was no way I could have possibly read them all; there were hundreds of bloggers participating and thousands of posts.  It was really quite amazing that anyone found me at all amid the really quite interesting and amazing blogs that were there. 

Over the past month my blog posts were viewed 420 times in the USA.  That is 20% more than in Canada (348).  Russia is third with 181 views in the last 30 days.  Honorable mention goes to Germany (101), UK  (48), China (35) and Poland (28).  Obviously, they were viewing posts previous to the Challenge posts as well.  I use the word viewing rather than reading because the reality is that, statistically speaking, probably only 10% of the people who happened upon my blog actually read anything!  (I’m good with that, too.)

Several times (no specific – or even calculated  - stats available) I asked myself why I blog.  I honestly don’t have an answer to that.  I’ve always loved writing and I’ve always dreamed of being a writer.  I suppose that this is an outlet, even if it is more of a diary than actual writing.  It does cater to my curiosity.  I am often compelled to research new ideas and I love finding new information.  Sharing it in my blog helps it to process and assists in retention.  It’s partly habit now.  Other than that, there is no real goal or objective. 

Yesterday I started another month-long challenge – David Suzuki’s 30 X 30 Challenge!  I did this last year with the encouragement of my daughter and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Being motivated to get outside and connect with nature was good for me.  I walked more.  I went canoeing.  I went kite flying.  I spend time at the duck pond.  I worked in my yard.  A year later, the lessons of that challenge are still with me. 

You can participate in the 30x30 Challenge, too.  If you wish to officially register, you can do it here:  http://30x30.davidsuzuki.org/.  Or you can just challenge yourself by pledging to spend 30 minutes a day for the next 30 days outside being active and enjoying nature.  

A is for April

I can’t believe that the A to Z Challenge is upon me already.  And, as usual, I find myself woefully unprepared for it.  Not that I haven’t been thinking about it.  I have!  I just haven’t settled on a theme that I like well enough to write 26 blogs about.

I have entertained an array of topics:  recipes, TV shows, movies, songs… the usual suspects.  And have rejected them all.  None seem at all right. 

So my first A to Z Challenge topic is simply April. 

It’s not my favourite month.  April, along with its predecessor, March, are the kind of months were one finds one’s self in a sort of activity limbo.  The weather is unpredictable; not winter, but not spring.  There is a lot of waiting going on, waiting for the snow to melt and the temperature to stabilize.  Waiting for the right time to replace the winter tires with All-seasons.  Waiting to feel confident enough to put away the snow shovels and blowers and get out the rakes and lawn mowers.  Waiting to get the summer clothes of the back of the closet and put the winter clothes in their place.   It’s often very cold in the morning, causing one to don mittens and ear muffs, which, by mid-afternoon, become a bothersome nuisance then having to be packed back home in pockets or purses.  More mittens and such get lost in these seasonless days than any other time. 

As Aprils go, this one is starting out on a decidedly good note.  It’s warm (+3), the sun is shining and the wind is calm.  March went out like a lamb, and April had begun just has gently, whispering promises of Spring to come.  Geese are making their way back up North, their cheerful honking filling the air as they fly by.  The snow is receding, like a slow-motion tide revealing the detritus of autumn not gathered before winter blanketed it in a thick white cloak.  Thoughts are turning to gardens and the joys of being outside with the warm sun on one’s back.  BBQ’s are being un-covered.  Running shoes are replacing boots.  Bicycles are finding their way out of sheds.  And the complaints about the weather are in transition.  For now people are appreciating the new warmth as they gear up to grouse about the rain and the heat that is sure to follow.

It’s good to have a challenge while I wait for all this waiting to be done.  I just hope that I can meet it!  Suddenly the alphabet seems very long and in these early hours of the day my muse seems rather more reluctant than I had hoped.  “What,” she asks, “were you thinking!?” 

Well, right now I’m thinking that it’s time to get dressed and maybe head out for a walk.  It’s a glorious day and a little fresh air and sunshine seems to be in order.