Pond Update & 4 Years of Blogging
(insert creepy music)
for a week now I've had these eyes popping up... rest assured after much googling.. they are the eyes of a softshelled turtle..
However.......
...this is NOT a softshelled turtle!
It was first spotted by the maintenance person and then as I was out feeding the turtle I saw off in the distance ... a piece of what looked like a branch floating?...but after the news that a gator was spotted sunning himself I ran and got my camera and I took photo's... well the "branch" has eyes and scales! It is small (now). The maintenance person said, "maybe 2 foot tail and all"... the office had already said that this pond had a gator once before and they have to be 5 ft long before anyone will come out to try to catch it and take it away...
I'll keep you informed as I know anything. I hope it doesn't eat everything in the pond to get to 5 foot long!
Meanwhile, I let yesterday slip by without remembering that it was my 4th year Anniversary of blogging! (I will admit that I would have forgotten totally if it wasn't for Naomi's blog..she too was celebrating 4 yrs of blogging!)
FOUR YEARS and 1,235 posts!
I looked back in archives and my first post (with no pictures!) it was about the appalling way elderly people are treated for medical purposes... heh.. four years later and I could say the same thing.. some things never change.... now that's scarier than the alligator!
In the beginning (hmmm, is that plagiarism?).. ummm, in the beginning I didn't know what to write for a blog so a did a little of everything. I did a bunch of memory stuff.. like old tv I watched (remember Spin and Marty on the Mousketeer Show?) I even wrote about my first really happy memory... and would you believe I had posts WITHOUT photos?!
I wrote things like when I wrote to get autographs from Turhan Bey and how I received a note back from him.. and a note I got from Red Skelton when I wrote him also! I still cherish those letters and of course I've saved them!
Of course I wrote posts about DeForest Kelley too! Sometimes those posts included my cat Pookey. And I wrote of my brother the artist.
Why I even wrote about some special times that were probably some of the "funniest" I ever had..
Then somehow after 2 yrs of that.. I stumbled into Stainless Steel Droppings. Carl was doing his Fantasy Challenge at the time and I just thought this was the greatest thing I had ever found! Little did I know it would lead me into poverty buying more books then I ever dreamed of! (Is this where I thank Carl or kill him??) And we all know what direction my blog has taken since then!
Of course I'm not a speed reader..nor even a fast reader.. so I mostly have fill in posts..but..somehow it's all worked, at least I think so.
I've seen blogs begin.. and be abandoned.. nothing really new. Life changes and people no longer have the time or energy to blog. But for those of us who just can't seem to leave.. it becomes a necessity to check in, to see how those we've come to know thru our computer are doing. We worry if they aren't around for more then a few days, and we try to listen when listening might help.
I"ve gained many new friends since blogging. I've adopted a son (Chris), and gained a sister (Cath). Most of all, my computer, blogging and writing have helped me with my depression. It hasn't been a cure... but it helps keep me going.
After 4 years if feel like.. well.. I woke this morning...therefore I will blog!
If I had a Margarita I would celebrate... but I guess I will settle for posting this to my blog!
25 Comments:
I have a margarita on hand so I'm toasting : Happy 4th Blogiversary! To many years of entertaining posts from you. Just keep 'em coming. :)
thank you Jo!
Happy 4th blogging anniversary, Pat! I'm so glad you stumbled upon the Once Upon a time Challenge and then met all of us *hugs*
And eek! A gator! You know how baby critters are always cute? I think I've just found an exception :P
OMG!!! I'm finally going to have to disagree with Nymeth about something! I think gators are tremendously adorable!
Happy, happy, happy blogging anniversary, Pat! I am so very grateful that you are not one of those who quit after a year or two. If you had, I'd have never met you, and my life would be much poorer!
nymeth: with gators I think they become "not so adoreable" because we know they will kill off everything near them! Fish or Fowl it doesn't matter to them! I am NOT thrilled this gator is in the pond! I'm glad I stuck around for 4 yrs too! :o)
Hi Debi: If I can catch the gator want me to send him to you? (snort!)
at my age sticking around isn't always a choice! glad I'm still here too!
Hey, Sis! Yep... people come and go and you wonder what happened to them and sometimes they come back and then go again! But I like to think I'm one of life's habitual bloggers and finding the book community here on Blogspot, and thus meeting yourself, has been one of the highlights of my entire life to be honest. To think I ummed and ahhed over starting a blog here and now this one is more important to me than my 2 LJs! Great post, Pat. Four years is quite an accomplishment and yaaay (I think) for Carl for giving you a new interest in life. I'm rambling... blame my cold. ;-p
The Gator looks mighty scary to me, only 2ft or no. Living in the UK where you don't see such things, seeing someone with an aligator in their local pond feels rather exotic. lol. But I still heard 'Jaws' music when I saw the pic. Heavens above...
Happy 4th anniversary! I think I have been around for most of it :) Wow, it doesn't seem like it should have been so long, but I guess I started my Journal on AOL in.... wow, I just went and checked and I did my first entry on an AOL Journal on October 18, 2004. Dang! Time flies!
I'm glad you decided to stick around. I would have really missed out if I hadn't found your blog. {{{Hugs}}}
I've never HEARD of a soft shelled turtle! But I've HEARD of an alligator! You get ALL the good stuff in that little pond of yours! MAN! That is amazing! Those catcher people are crazy... seems like it would be MUCH less work to catch a 2 foot gator than a 5 foot gator!
Happy anniversary!
lol thanks Cath: yeah finding a "sis" wasn't something I was expecting!.. of course my luck "held out" and i find me a YOUNGER sister lol.. damn hahaha...
I never thought I'd be around this long blogging! and umm yeah.. i am not thrilled w/ the gator!
hey JJ: yup you were one of the aol journals where i began.. sometimes still can't believe that they closed all that down on everyone.
hi Melli: it would be for sure less work.. the problem is, they will sell it for "meat" and so they want a big gator w/ a big tail to sell for their trouble of catching him (big trouble ..not like it's in a huge swamp! here it is in a tiny pond!!! ) the bigger it is the more money they will get for it.
danke Becky! :o)
Yay for bloggy birthdays! :) yikes for the alligator!
Wow, four years, congratulations and I am so glad I found you on line. I also am a slow reader, nice to know I am not the only one. I sometimes neglect my blog, oddly enough because I feel down and feel the need to retreat from the world and yet it is a connection to the outside world that is easy to maintain and helps keep you going. I love your blog so here's to the last four and the years to come! Oh and I hope the new resident doesn't eat the rest of the community. Happy blogging
Happy anniverysary blogging day late. You did better than I did, mine was almost two weeks late last year before I thought and I think I forgot it a longer time this year.
You better bet that alligater will get some of the pond critters. Probably some new hatchings next spring. Someone probably got tired of their pet and put it in there. Watch your toes. Helen
Happy bloggiversary! You should be so proud of keeping up your blog for 4 years. I enjoy all of your posts and pictures!
I sort of skipped my 3 year anniversary in June... so I'm like 9 months behind you.
You're still blogging strong. I've slowed down. But we'll see if I can get my energy going again.
Darn that gator!
thank you She!
bookpusher: yeah, compaired to everyone else I am a slow reader..but I don't mind..it lets me enjoy my book for a longer period of time lol
hi Helen: hard to believe i've done this for 4 years! ..yeah, I am afraid of what the alligator will do to the pond..I doubt anyone put it there.. they wander from pond to pond down here or thru the deep water gutters..no matter how it got here I hope either someone decides to catch it or it wanders on!
Thanks Kathleen!!
Pam: considering my life (sigh) my computer is a reason to get up and go on each day.. sad but true. so I am grateful for it.
Happy Blogiversary! I am very glad that we met through blogging! :) It will be four years for me in December. Crazy how time flies!
Four years! That's a hell of a lot of entries. I am doing good if I post twice a month. Also still relatively new to this lj stuff. (Think it is similar to blogs).
Ah yes the gator. When it gets to be five feet is when it starts eating dogs, cats and any little kid who crawls too close. Don't feed the gators! (Except if you're a University of Florida fan and all other schools are Gator Bait.
Got back from the food and wine tasting and now am gearing up for the mountains. Have a wonderful next four years... Vala
kelly: time sure does fly.. if you think it goes by fast now.. just wait! when you are old it SPEEDS!!
uh well yes Vala it is "similiar"..or even "the same" lol.. i hope to heck that gator comes up missing before all our birds and fish are gone! I don't feel good about the pond now.. i feel like it's been invaded and nothing i can do to help.. nope. not gunna become a gator wrestler! lol
CONGRATS, my dear Pat..I didn't realize we started so close together...I have enjoyed all of the four years of your blog and hope you continue on---another 40 years!! And I agree, it has helped me through this difficult time of grieving---(Not over yet...but...time, time, time...)
And it has been FABULOUS to see you blossom into this FANTASTIC Photographer with the advent of ALL those wonderful birds and that glorious Pond!
Happy (horridly belated) anniversary, hun! *huggles* I'm sorry I missed it.
I don't, unfortunately, have a margarita to offer you, but I do have cake! *holds it up* See?
And you have a 'gator in your pond? O_O That is just such a foreign concept to poor European me. (Uhm, unless it's a good thing, I suppose.) And scary. At least people plan on catching it eventually?
Happy belated blogiversary! Be careful with that thing out there in the pond. Boy they are creepy! There is a gator farm not too far from where I live and after every hurricane or tropical storm at least 8-10 get loose every time. They give me the willies lol.
Happy Birthday to your blog! I laughed reading this because I can't imagine you doing a post without pictures...nowadays that would be the first sign that we knew your blog was hijacked! ;)
You've posted an amazing amount of posts...I think you have me beat and I've been doing this for a little over 5 and a half years. I'm so glad you stumbled across my site (and have hired bodyguards in the event that you've put a hit out on me). My blogging life would not be nearly as satisfying without you in it.
And speaking of you, I saw that Star Trek comes out on DVD on Nov. 17th and thought of you right away when I saw that. I cannot wait to see it again!
Happy birthday, Pat! 4 years go fast, don't they?! Love love love the pics. Will you share the patterns for those adorable crochet critters? They came out great! I'd love to try making them - my kids would love it!
Happy belated blogiversary!
And eek to the gator! When I was really little, my parents took me to Florida on vacation and we stayed in a hotel near a pond. The managers had a sign posted asking us not to feed the gators. I thought it was a joke; my parents didn't tell me there were really gators in the pond until we were at home, since they didn't want to scare me!
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