Two Thousand Hits

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California


The holidays have come and gone. The house guests have done similarly. Our friends, Todd and Christopher, rented a house here for the week including Christmas and New Year's. Their house was a nine-minute short walk away. Actually, it started at nine minutes. Then it got shorter as I pushed the envelope on the walking speed. I got it down to seven, maybe seven and-a-half.


It was great fun to have the two houses and go between them. Their house has an ocean view from the balcony, whereas ours, almost five blocks further from the beach, has no ocean sound whatsoever. Small price to pay for two fireplaces and a short walk to Mission Ranch, is what we think.


We went thirteen days here before anyone turned on a TV. And, frankly, I was all for bringing in the new year without watching the ball drop on Times Square. I'm the superstitious type. We've watched that (through no fault of our own) the last few years, and look what it has got us! I thought maybe starting the year without it, could put the cosmic tumblers into better alignment. I fool around with the Hoppin' John in this way as well. But, what do I know?


Blogwise, the new year is starting with another milestone. I have just, today, passed the two thousandth hit on What Would Sandra Do? Again, with the joke: either two thousand of you have landed on it once, or one of you has read it two thousand times (I know who you are, Ms. LOL). I was thinking, though, that instead of giving you stats on where the ersatz readers reside, or which posts are the most popular or un-, I would share a couple of anecdotes about my blog's life since One Thousand Hits, which I posted on April 25th of last year.


The first is about my blog doppelganger. On July 1st of last year, I received an email from Sandra. Not my Sandra, however. This Sandra wrote to me to say that she had been dismayed to discover my blog had the same name as hers, and further dismayed to discover that I had started mine quite awhile before she  had launched hers (I'm paraphrasing here). We corresponded back and forth a bit, discovering that we had both been English majors in college, and that we actually live near each other in Los Angeles. But the real beauty of this was discovering the other WWSD blog. Her blog is insightful, witty, and, unlike mine, full of photos (my bad). I've enjoyed getting to know her through it, and so can you right here.


Apart from discovering a kindred spirit named Sandra, during the last few months I also got my first comment from a stranger. It was in the post entitled Octoberfest? and it was from Carlos. Evidently, Carlos is affiliated with the Red Tale Ale people in Mendocino. He thoughtfully posted a comment at the bottom of that post -- the second post in which my current favorite beer was mentioned (see Other Cities Only Make Me Love You Best -- available here, for free!).


The only other point I would like to make about my two thousandth hit is that I am gratified that it happened here and now. As those of you who have been following along (again, really . . ?) know, I started my blog just two years ago, on a Dell laptop sitting at a little round table, here in Carmel. And now, here I am again, just two years later in a different house in Carmel, at a small square game table, on a MacBook Pro. Things change; things stay the same. Life is like that . . .


While it is fun to receive a comment from a stranger, I am more humbled by my friends who follow along. As any of you who have spent time with me know, talking is something I like to do a lot. And, increasingly, in a rambling, where the F was I?-style manner. Not that I don't also write in that style (because I do, especially in my love of parenthetical explanations as evidenced in this particularly long one which you are reading right here and now. You're reading this, right? Right?). Anyway, my heart is warmed by the knowledge (or delusion) that my friends are reading, and even occasionally enjoying my posts. That goes for those of you in Hawaii (you know who you are), as well as MCM in New York.


My life has changed a lot since I began What Would Sandra Do? And I needn't reiterate that here. But life does that. Someone said (it may have been Steve Jobs, since there has been so much of that around of late) that change is the only thing that succeeds. I do have a grudging understanding of that. I also know that we mustn't try to stop change. If we do try, it will just drag us along with it. So as the new year begins, I am taking this time to stop; to thank you all, and to take a deep breath before getting back on the big ole, sometimes scary, ride.


Happy New Year. I wish you all health, happiness, and a world at peace. Now, let's go . . .


Thank you all for reading my blog . . . but, what is wrong with you (ok, sorry, couldn't resist . . .)?!