Prompts – Good, Bad or Indifferent?

This isn’t a prompt or a response to a specific prompt, but more of a question or query that has been rolling around in my head, “Why have I apparently shifted to posting responses to the WordPress prompts?” As compared to creating posts not necessarily based on prompts.

So, in other words, this is just me on this dull, foggy and misty Saturday morning …thinking out loud. Sort of feel a bit sorry for you as you’re reading this.

From where I sit, prompts provide an easy(at least in my mind) don’t need to think of a topic approach. Just charge off and create a post. Prompts that interest me, those are relatively easy to get a handle on.

However, there are many I’ve found that I’m not necessarily overly interested in. And that is to be expected. Now, if I was still teaching and a student came up to me and bravely suggested something I assigned to them to write about wasn’t “interesting”, I would encourage them to work diligently at it(yes it may be challenging) and “create something excellent out of something not so excellent.”

In other words, we get better at writing/blogging by working hard to create a post on a topic we may not have any real interest or desire in. But, I don’t necessarily want to hear and especially hear it from myself.

So, what else is there in the “why tackle prompts convention?”

Well, there is the whole “we don’t really care about likes and views” society. But, come on honestly we do care! I certainly care! We do care about “likes and views” – often we don’t want to admit it. Now, not trying to stir up the proverbial pot here, but scores of us I’m sure spout off on a somewhat “holier than thou” stance of “I write to only please myself – I don’t care about views and likes.”

Now if you’re blogging purely to “get things off your chest” – a sort of “low-cost mental and emotional health” process, and honestly couldn’t give a hoot about “likes and views“- that’s wonderful – keep it up.

But, when we log on to WordPress and we see those stats summaries and realize folks like what I wrote yesterday – we do get that tiny shot of dopamine. It feels good. So, maybe in a tiny way(but don’t tell anyone), we do write to get those views and likes.

Tackling prompts does get us more views and likes. I can attest to it. The last two months(March and April) have been the highest two consecutive months for views and likes since the summer of 2020, which was during the middle of the pandemic. Back then everyone was searching for outdoor things to do and or to go to.

I think that views and likes go up given the fact that there is a sort of a homemade “built-in” group of folks all writing based on the same theme and so, many(including myself) go, “I wonder how others are tackling this prompt?” – result click somewhere and find out.

Where are we at here so far? (1) – prompts are an easy route to take and (2) “likes and views.” Is there anything else?

Well – how about that old “How many days in a row can I post adventure?” An oldie, but a goodie reason that pops up and continually reaches the start of the line, and again it certainly does for yours truly.

I can say with absolute honesty, that seeing the little notification, “Congratulations – you’ve posted XX days in a row” – fires me up and fires me up more than it likely should. And I suspect it does exactly the same for others out there in the blogosphere as well. Even if they don’t want to openly admit it. Okay, it will be our “little secret” then.

I likely need to reiterate at this point again – that what you’ve been reading is just me thinking out loud and putting those thoughts(good and bad) down on the virtual WordPress page here.

Are there those blogging on WordPress, who feel about prompts the way I’m poking away at the subject at the moment? Likely. Statistics would suggest that some would feel exactly the same. I can’t possibly be the only one in the WordPress universe who is feeling this way on a Saturday morning.

However, what I do think is that most bloggers I know who either follow and do prompts or host their own prompt(s) love to do it. It creates writing challenges to overcome and along the way, their writing improves and gets better, exciting, thoughtful and engaging. In fact and I’m not sure why, but many of the folks I follow and their posts that show up daily in my WordPress Reader – are responses to prompts. That does seem strange.

So, this morning I’m not going to crack out a post based on today’s WP prompt of, “List the people you admire and look to for advice…“

If I did post it would be my wife and my daughter and likely in that order.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Posting Streak Re-Boot

Well, not that it matters all that enough in the big scheme of events in life, but this time we made it to 57 days of posting in a row.

The longest streak in the past was around 140 to 150 days if I remember correctly. At some point during that long streak, someone commented that they had been posting daily for literally a thousand-plus days in a row …… so like years. That is a big-time commitment. Bravo!

However, as in previous posting streaks, work got in the way of posting anything on a particular day, as it did last week. You see, I’m of the mindset of I’ll take $250 for doing a bit of work versus posting something on WordPress just to keep some streak of little significance going for another day.

I still tend to get up very early and do all this “WordPress stuff” long before Lynn rolls out the sack. I look at it as my time and certainly a hobby that I enjoy. I guess you can call a blog a hobby – why not? If I was still working full-time and not semi-retired or more or less retired, posting every day for the most part would be next to impossible.

I often wonder although I don’t remember if I ever threw the question out there, but are blogging streaks, posting daily or whatever you want to call it – important. In other words, do some bloggers feel keeping the streak alive is the most important thing or are there some other reasons(which I suspect there are many) why people post daily. I do think that there are some out there in the “blogosphere” who post daily because of “the streak.”

Anyhow, this now makes it two whole days in a row for me.

Tomorrow is another day – keeping it alive.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Bloganuary – What Does It Accomplish?

I’m not writing this to diminish or disparage “Bloganuary” or any other “daily blogging prompts” in any way whatsoever. I’ve read some wonderful posts over the past couple of weeks that have been created in response to some particular prompt in “Bloganuary.”

I’m writing this though from the perspective of someone who is participating(so far at least) in “Bloganuary” and what I’m discovering(and it is more about myself) than the “Bloganuary” prompt in general.

I obviously can’t speak for all bloggers, but I would make a safe assumption that many of us create posts based on a topic or issue that touches us in some meaningful way. Choosing topics that we develop or already have a deep emotional attachment to.

And that for the most part is how I come up with a post. There is something that has meaning to me and then I write about it.

What I’m finding so far through the “Bloganuary” daily challenges is that I’m often creating a post in response to the prompt solely to post it and say, “Yup, the daily prompt for today is done and published.”

In other words, many of the posts I’ve done are light on content, depth, and substance.

I understand that part of the challenge is to quote “Jumpstart your writing for the new year; to find inspiration within the blogging community and to grow your own audience.”

And all of that is happening. Views and readership on my site have been up substantially since getting started with “Bloganuary.”

Nevertheless, this whole process does feel somewhat hollow or artificial at times.

Perhaps I’m being far too critical and overthinking the entire “Bloganuary” concept. Making it far more important than it actually is.

Maybe I need to approach it as accepting the challenge for what it is, all the while recognizing that some posts will be far better overall than others.

Ultimately, in the big scheme of things – it is only a blogging challenge. Not a challenge to bring about world peace and harmony across the planet or to find a cure for cancer.

Again not to disparage the “Bloganuary” or those who manage and run it.

If you are following and participating in the “Bloganuary” challenge, how are you approaching it? Do you have the same feelings?

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

What The Future Holds Blog Wise

I’m finding the time between Christmas and the New Year is providing more than enough ample opportunity to simply watch the seconds tick by, with no real plan or ideas to fill them. That is until I start back to my casual work environment in January.

Yes, there are a couple of things that I could do around the house(like installing a double towel rack in the bathroom downstairs). But, that’s the type of 15-minute job I feel has best saved until there is a tremendous winter storm howling around that precludes any outside work for the perceivable future.

One thought that just occurred to me as I was typing away, is to begin to create a list of topics and ideas that might work for future blog posts.

I was thinking that coming up with general themes would work at the beginning and then narrowing them down into several specific blog posts. Trying to come up with a list of very specific blog post subjects to do daily or on some schedule, might be somewhat of an overwhelming ambious text. Developing that list might be actually more challenging than writing the posts.

So, I’m thinking a bunch of general topics, subjects, or ideas might be the approach that works here.

Over the years, I’ve been all over the blogging map in terms of subjects. One area that I have dealt with is scores of posts on mental wellness, coping strategies, and overall depression-related issues. As I sit here this morning, I’m not chomping at the bit to write much more on those topics. Recognizing that all of that could change before we get to the end of this post.

Trip reports or summaries of adventures that we’ve been on have been a staple item for posts here since its inception way back in 2016. I don’t see any reason that “trip reports/reviews” won’t continue to be here moving forward. Just need to get out there and create and do more adventures.

In the past couple of years, I’ve begun to include posts related to artworks that I’ve completed. It’s been everything from pencil sketches to watercolour and acrylic paintings. There have also been a couple of posts relating to some aspect of art and creativity in some way or another.

Moving forward, I think that including paintings that I’ve completed, along with a brief narration of the inspiration behind the artwork will continue. In addition, I like the idea of developing posts related to art and the creative process. Along the lines for example of how art touches us deep within our souls. The importance of art within the context of us as humans.

In the past, I have used “quote of the day” or something similar to generate an idea or theme for a post. Often I do find that searching for a “quote of the day” that has meaning enough within me to develop a post over, is as exhausting as mulling over and writing the friggin’ blog post. But, we’ll keep it on the table of ideas for the time being.

One thing that I do like to do at home is cook. I like to use recipes that are a couple of things. Easy to make(the fewer the ingredients – the better); fool-proof(hard to mess them up); are more healthy versus not so healthy and finally tasty recipes. Perhaps sharing pictures and the recipes of some dishes that I cook could result in a nice addition to the blog here. With any luck, readers might share back some foods that fit my criteria noted above.

One thing I employ on a fairly regular basis is logging on to WordPress and then simply typing away and seeing what the universe will reveal. One never really knows for certain at the beginning of the post where we’ll end up as we get to the end of the post.

So, this is where we’ve kind of landed at this stage.

• trips reports/summaries
• art related posts
• quote of the day
• recipes
• letting the universe decide
• whatever tickles my fancy that day

Looking over the list, I think we’re off to a pretty decent start. I see the list as a beginning point and not “the list.”

Well, it’s a start nonetheless.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Merry Christmas 2023 – Advice From An Elf

And it seems that we’ve all made it more or less to the “BIG DAY” – yup………. Christmas Day ….. the 2023 version.

Hopefully, your Christmas Eve celebrations in whatever form they took, haven’t left you with a bit of “brain fog” this morning. Well, perhaps just a slight fog, due in part to a minor over-indulgence in Christmas Eve merriment.

Regardless of how your Christmas Eve transpired, here’s hoping that your Christmas Day is filled with joy, love, good food, good family, and good friends and is as special as it can possibly be.

For this Christmas Day here is some sage wisdom from the folks that make it all come together – that’s right elves.

Elves work hard all year.

You know that; I know that and in fact, we all know that. Or at least we should know that.

We know that they make A LOT of toys and such throughout the year. Besides making toys, there is also much wisdom that can be derived from observing elves in action. Who knew? I sure didn’t.

Their cheerful and sunny disposition, dedicated work ethic, and love for all things Christmas make them wonderful role models for young and old alike.

So, with that being said, here are a few nuggets of advice we can take away as a gift this Christmas morning from the world of elves.

• Bring Good Cheer – I think it’s obvious for this one. Wherever you go make sure joy and happiness follow.
• Play Reindeer Games – have fun; you only have one “kick at the can!”
• Enjoy Your Craft – love what you do and if you don’t, find the thing that gets you excited to roll out of bed in the morning.
• Sing A Happy Song – always keep a joyful song in your heart. Even if you can’t sing.
• Wear Funny Hats – don’t be afraid to get silly every once in a while. People will love you for it and you’ll love yourself for it! Find someone else to “wear a hat” with you and throw a party.
• Work As A Team – life is far better and far richer when your life is more than just simply “you.” Whether it is in a committed relationship or simply in your work environment, one can not survive by being “an island amongst oneself.”
• Share Your Toys – could be your physical toys, which I’m sure your Mom told you to do when you were young. But, share your gift(s) with the world. If you’re a painter make sure the world sees your paintings. If you do woodworking as a hobby the world needs to see your creations. Share the gifts that you have!

In addition, elves follow a somewhat “Code of Ethics” or “Code of Elves” within their elf culture which in many respects, takes the above-noted pieces of advice and condenses down to something far simpler to apply to our own lives.

Much of this condensed version has been espoused by one of the most famous elves or as he most aptly quotes – “I’m an elf… well, I’m a human, raised by elves” – none other than Buddy the Elf

The Code of Elves

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

We hope your day is blessed and one that will be filled with cherished memories for years to come.

–as always with love–

— get otudoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

CP Holiday Train – Keepin’ The Name

I feel as if there is some need for yours truly to go off on a bit of a rant here. Not so much about the Christmas event following, but more on a business merger style of rant.

Up until(I assume this year), the annual “CP Holiday Train” goes across Canada to raise funds; goods, and awareness of food insecurity issues across the country. This year the train still heads across, covering most of the country, but the friggin’ name has changed.

It is now known as the “CPKC Holiday Train.” Why the name change?

Apparently, the Canadian Pacific(CP) Railway and the Kansas City Southern(KCS) Railway merged to form the “CPKC Railway.” All of this leaves me kind of sad from a historical perspective.

The Canadian Pacific Railway was born out of the dream of Canada’s first Prime Minister to unite and bring together this new country of Canada in the 1870s and 1880s, by building a transcontinental railway from eastern Canada to the Pacific Ocean. There’s much more to the story than that, but in a way(again to me), the Canadian Pacific Railway is as much a part of who we are as Canadians, as is hockey on a Saturday night.

Now, to have it merged with a railway from the United States seems wrong on many levels. So, in my own level of defiance, I’m still referring to it as the “CP Holiday Train.”

Nevertheless…..moving on.

Ah, Christmas traditions. I’m sure other spots around the world have their own unique traditions that show up at some point during the holiday season.

Back in 2019, when our “old homestead” was along the shore of Georgian Bay, we went north about 45 minutes to the town of Parry Sound on a dark and cold Friday evening.

In typical Canadian fashion, one of these is the annual trek of the CP Holiday Train which travels across the country from the east coast to the west coast. For those not in the know, CP is the short form for the “Canadian Pacific Railway.”

Right now you’re probably asking yourself, what is the CP Holiday Train?

The CP Holiday Train has run since 1999 and its purpose is simply this:

“The CP Holiday Train is a program that our 13,000-strong CP family has immense pride in bringing to communities every year. Access to nutritious food is a basic necessity, and food bank usage is on the rise across North America. The CP Holiday Train program is our way to help in the fight against hunger by growing awareness of this issue and providing a fun and engaging way for the public to show their support.”

The Holiday Train has now raised more than C$15.8 million and collected 4.5 million pounds of food since its inaugural journey back in 1999. And whatever food and money are raised in a local community because of the Holiday Train, stays in the local community.

With luck apparently on our side this year, Lynn and I bundled up mid-Friday afternoon and headed up the highway, arriving about 30 minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive at 4:15 pm.

A typical stop goes something like this:

• the train arrives and pulls to a safe stop in front of the crowd
• the stage door lowers and the band/singers(Canadian talent of course) open with its first song
• a brief presentation takes place with local food bank officials and other invited folks(usually local political types)
• the band and singers resume performing a mix of traditional and modern holiday-themed songs
• the whole event lasts about 30 to 45 minutes
• when the band and singers play the last tune, the stage door closes
• and the train heads off to the next stop(after Parry Sound it stopped in the Shawanaga First Nations for 5:30pm)

A few pictures from the evening.

And a short video of the festivities.

As I said to Lynn when walking back to our car, it was one of the most impressive, yet simple Canadian Christmas traditions I could think of.

If you ever get the chance to take in the CP Holiday Train – do it.

If you happen to live in a different part of the world, make sure to take in some Christmas traditions in your area.

Believe me, regardless of the Christmas tradition in your particular area, getting out and taking them in is a great way to fall headlong into the Christmas spirit.

–as always with love–

—  get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself  —

Just Start Typing And See……

It seems at times, I’m often at a loss to have a topic readily at hand for a daily blog post. Now granted, I don’t put too much or very little effort during the day or anytime contemplating, “What should I write and post about tomorrow?”

Maybe that’s the entire issue right there? Little to no effort.

Often, like this morning for example, I simply open the computer; log into WordPress, and start typing away, hoping that something would emerge as the letters and words move from left to right across the page.

I embarked on this crazy and perilous journey into the blogging realm way back in the summer of 2016. I had no idea back then as to what I was doing, and I’m not convinced now that I’m much further ahead in the game.

Needless to say, that’s not altogether true. With over 1300 posts and just over 1000 followers, I’ve gained some knowledge and understanding on at least a fundamental level of how this all works and comes together.

As part of the journey over the years, I’ve read countless posts and entries on generating ideas for posts; subjects and areas to explore; plus scores of other important and perhaps not-so-important details to incorporate into one’s blogging lifestyle. If there is such a thing.

All of the ideas that so many bloggers write relating to generating blog post ideas; increasing followers; or “how to write the perfect post” are all wonderful and I’m sure very informative. But not all of us(maybe it’s just me) are quite so willing or desperate to invest much more time and effort into the whole “blogosphere blogging deal.”

And not being that slow on the uptake, I get that “little to no effort should or does equal little to no rewards out of it.”

And that’s okay. Why?

Rewards can come in a variety of forms and results. The obvious ones in blogging(I would assume) are large numbers of appreciative followers; great content production(by the writer); and a huge level of pride and satisfaction(by the blogger). I’m sure there are others as well, including monetary rewards.

For yours truly, I’m sort of in what I’m calling this murky, yet exceedingly clear “happy plane area” if that makes any sense. Appreciative of all the followers that have come along for the journey; the blogging friendships developed over the years; of my content created(the great; good and crappy posts)… but that’s about it.

I’m not too hung up on much else. Certainly not stats for the most part. Other than the one hundred-and-some-odd-day posting streak I was on last year at this time. That was fun.

Being retired, time constraints aren’t much of a concern as they might have time when I was working. It was hard to compile a blog post in the early morning hours when you needed to be out of the house at 4:50 am to be to work by 5:45 for your shift.

Now, putting together a blog post in those “wee morning hours” is something that in many ways I look forward to. Just me; my thoughts and ideas on any particular day(which is a scary concept at best). In many ways, it has become an important part of my morning routine, like making coffee.

And I like that.

There are three things that I’ve discovered, found out, or figured out over these past seven years spent dwelling in the blogging universe:

1. Some people take blogging and all it entails extremely seriously. They’re at one end of the spectrum.
2. Some people don’t take it seriously at all. They’re at the other end.
3. Most people fall somewhere in the middle of two ends.

And all of it is okay.

And to think, this morning I just opened up the computer and started typing.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

A Milestone – I Think

This popped up this morning in my “Comments” thread.

A thousand followers. I guess technically it is 1001 according to WordPress.

It probably goes without saying that many, if not way more than many are “followers” generated in some computer in a sketchy area of someplace.

But, on the other hand, many are followers who have been around since pretty much day one.

In many respects, the folks who follow our blogs in some fashion mirror friends in life.

Some have been around forever and continue to be there; others pop in and out every once in a while; others were there for a season, but are now gone; and others are simply “fake.”

Nevertheless, a thousand followers in still a thousand followers. For those who are still hanging around, thanks for your continued support all these years.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Three Tips Towards Calmness In The Midst Of Chaos

Often life can erupt and swirl into a seething cauldron of chaos and mayhem. It seems many times it all occurs within a split second. Boom, and there you find yourself.

Realistically though, this “seething cauldron” that we can find ourselves spinning wildly out of control in, is usually a slow build. A slow build-up that either we know is happening and thus we choose to do nothing about it or in retrospect, we realize that it was building up ever so slowly over time. And still did the square root of zero to turn the tide on.

Source: Google Images

Regardless of how we end up there, the point is here we are in the vortex of yet another of life’s tornadoes.

And when we’re in the insane midst of it, it can feel like there is no escape. Much like a bad dream, we have trouble waking up.

Our judgment becomes impaired; we feel this slow slide into the darker side of mental wellness; the walls of living keep pressing closer and closer, choking what little breath we have left out of us. It is not a fun feeling or a pleasant place to dwell in for any length of time.

Living in the midst of chaos for an extended period can take its toll on us and those around us.

It is both physically and mentally exhausting.

The sadness of the entire situation is that chaos and all that it entails can ultimately evolve into becoming our new reality; our new normal. We wake up(thankfully from the bad dream) to discover that this is what our life has become. Never a moment of peace; always putting out fires; always on edge.

Chaos and its minions can often take us to a place where either our mind, our body, or both of them together scream NO MORE.

So, how do we create calmness in the midst of chaos? How do we either remove ourselves from this swirling cauldron we’re spinning in? Or at least lessen the swirling mass from hurricane status to that of a tropical storm?

Source: Google Images

For example, in this picture that Lynn snapped a number of years ago when we stopped at the harbour on Georgian Bay in Meaford, ON. How do we get create calmness when chaos surrounds us?

Three Tips Towards Creating Calmness

Recognize

So, the chaos being over can’t come soon enough.

When our lives are spinning out of control and I mean seriously out of control, if we can recognize that it is happening and be honest with ourselves that we’re not in a good place, it provides a platform at least to manage the “chaos” and “out of controllness” from completely knocking us on our butt.

If we don’t know what is happening to us, there is a good chance that someone does and points out the direction we may be heading. Always prudent to at least pay attention if someone is telling you you are on a collision course.

Regardless of whether we make the connection or someone points us down that path, try to recognize what is happening; be honest and truthful that we need to do something.

Be Intentional

Once we recognize and acknowledge the chaos for what it is and what it is doing to our own mental and physical wellness, be intentional with a plan.

It is one thing to say, “I need to get out of this chaos, if only for a day.” It is something altogether different when “we actually do get of the chaos for a day.”

Saying and doing are two entirely different things.

What we conclude to be intentional about implementing some strategy to get out of the chaos depends on us and the situation for the most part. It could be a complex and difficult solution and decision. Or on the other hand, it could be as simple as saying, “I’m forgetting everything and leaving for a weekend away.”

Often removing ourselves from the chaos for a day or weekend can have a huge impact and be of great benefit. Getting away for a weekend at a cabin or something similar and spending time in nature can help us to get clarity about what we may need to do. If nothing else, getting away from it it can provide a welcome respite from whatever is blowing around us.

Regardless of whether the plan is major or minor, saying you’re going to do something about it and actually doing something can be as different as night and day.

Be intentional – “don’t say you will…….just do”

Unplug

Regardless of whether life right now is in the midst of chaos and feels like Hurricane Dorian is catapulting your lawn furniture down the street or things are sailing along nice and smooth, unplugging from social media never is a bad thing.

As much as social media has its good points, on the other side of the scale it can be equally as bad or even worse.

Getting away from the craziness and chaos that surrounds us for a time, can involve getting away from that sucking downward vortex of Facebook posts and notifications; the constant checking of your Twitter feed and mindlessly scrolling through the latest fabricated images on Instagram. The constant reminders that your life could be better(if you were only like so and so in this image); that the world is only to “hell in a handbasket”; and the never-ending posts of your first cousin’s “perfect children.”  

Often it is too easy to get sucked back into the “mind-numbing and soul-crushing” reality of social media. I get it if you use FB messenger video chat to connect with your grandchildren. But, that’s not what this is about here.

It’s about getting away and out of the battle for a bit. And often unplugging from the fakeness and chaos that can abound on social media can play a huge part in calming the storm.

Creating calmness in the midst of chaos has likely plagued man since the dawn of time.

Solutions to creating calmness are never easy and often can be complex and require us to make major decisions.

On the other end of the spectrum, it can be as simply as a weekend away with your honey.

But, if we can:

• recognize and be truthful about our situation;
• be intentional in doing something;
• unplug and give our mind and soul a break

We may find a solution that slows or stops the chaos. If all we achieve is a chance at peace and solitude to recharge the batteries in order to continue the fight. Perhaps that is a win for us as well.

Question?

What do you do to create calmness in the midst of chaos?

–as always with love–

Source: Google Images

—  get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself  —

Stats – An Interesting Look

I wonder how many bloggers sit back at some point along the way and see what their most popular posts have been over a number of years? For all I know, maybe this is an exercise that you undertake on a semi-annual or annual basis.

I happened to glance at a post a few days ago, where the author mentioned something about what their most popular posts had been since they fired up their blog.

This got me thinking, first of all, what are my most popular top ten posts since starting the blog back in 2016. Secondly, does this “top ten list” mesh in any form with what I consider the best or most thought-provoking posts I wrote. In other words, do the posts I consider my best stuff fall anywhere on this “top ten list.”

I generated this “top ten list” based on the total views a post created since I started the blog back in 2016. I find it interesting that other than the entries for “Home Page” and “About Us”, all the remaining posts are “Trip Report” related.

Another interesting fact is if I expand the list to now include the “top twenty posts” only two non-trip related posts are in the top twenty, not including the “Home Page and About Us” pages” noted above.

Why might there be only exclusively trip report-related posts in the top ten? I think I have the answer or an answer.

COVID-19.

I generated all-time views by month and year for the top two posts. “Nottawasaga Look-Out “ and a review of “McKinley Hiking Poles.”

If you examine the number of views per month in “red oval” – when did this occur? During the summer of 2020 – right in the middle of the pandemic.

One can rightly assume, that people were searching for hiking and outdoor activities that would fit within whatever provincial health guidelines/restrictions were in place at that time.

Interestingly, the spike of 2172 views for the “Nottawasaga Look-Out” post in July 2020, was due in a large part to a link to the post being in an article in an online newspaper, detailing COVID-friendly hikes and outdoor activities in central Ontario. I believe the online news outlet was either Narcity or Toronto Life.

I guess what all these stats mean or could mean, is that we may have posts that we think are our best or that we love the most, but may not be the most popular.

Of course, our top ten list may gel exactly with a top ten list based on views. But, on the other hand, it may not.

I think it is an interesting exercise to see what readers are reading over a more extended time frame. Are there trends? Do the more popular posts all seem to fall into certain categories? Do years or the time of year play into “what people are viewing”?

Who knows – but is interesting to take a look at.

–as always with love–

— get otudoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —