Best Wishes from Plants and Rocks

Lanceleaf cottonwood, Laramie River.

Another year of blogging is almost over.  I’d like to thank all my colleagues in the blogosphere ... those who read and those who write ... those I know (a little) and those who remain anonymous.  I’m still in awe, impressed by the new opportunities the internet provides.  Four years ago I knew nothing of blogging.  Now it’s an important source of information, and a most satisfying creative outlet.

expression is the need of my soul (archy)

“Bloggers are saturating the globe” wrote William Zinsser, as he too contemplated today's widespread revolution in writing – powered first by the word-processor and then by the internet.  “I had no inkling of the electronic marvels that would soon revolutionize the act of writing ... for people who had never thought of themselves as writers.”

It's a wonderful revolution, with a happy democratic outcome.  We don't have to be professionals to struggle to put words together and share our masterpieces.  Now we common folk carefully craft stories, add photos beautifully backlit on the monitor, and cast them off into the Unknown, with no assurance that anyone will read them.  And we keep doing it ... for diverse and mysterious reasons. 

Maybe when we tell stories we make memories more vivid and lasting.

I learn a lot from bloggers – about botany, ecology, geology, photography, places to go, things to see – all of it spiced up with excitement and enthusiasm.  Used to be I had a small circle of friends to swap plant and rock stories with.  Now the circle is vast.  To all, happy holidays and best wishes for 2015 ... and keep blogging!

Ice on the Laramie River.

Sources

marquis, don.  1927.  archy and mehitabel.  doubleday.

Zinsser, William.  2007.  On writing well; 7th ed.  Harper Collins.

☃Plants and Rocks is taking a short winter break, returning in a few weeks.