Back from the brink...of killing the blog

Fooling around in Stevens Point Sculpture Garden

I have been thinking about stopping my blog, so I took a break to see what it felt like.

Of course it's hard to do something major without looking it up, so I googled, "How do you know when to stop a blog," and this one from The Freelancer read, "Sometimes you feel like your insights on a topic are just tapped out," and "Readers can tell if you’re emotionally checked out from your blog, so it’s often better to divert your creative energy elsewhere than to keep updating (or have the guilt of a dormant blog weighing you down)" and "The turning point for many writers comes when they realize the topics they’re covering for free (or for pennies of advertising revenue) could get them a larger payday from an established publisher."

Some people have suggested I monetize the blog but I don't have the energy and I think it wouldn't generate much anyway. 

Put a quarter in, and she talks

A friend said don't stop, people like it, people are inspired, you tell good stories. Another friend said that I can use it to share stories that I write, such as this one about the benefits of forgetfulness. specifically referring to Mohs surgery but applicable to other hard stuff.

It has definitely helped jog my memory. Some dates are seared in memory, others, not so much. For example, I asked Ben and Joe when I was on the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio Telethon, and then realized all I had to do was look it up to find out it was in 2012. I had a trip down memory lane, remembering the stupendous falls – one down on my face while running around the lake and tripping on a root, and the other off my bike while riding on a road – and healed just on time for the telethon. 

In any case, I realized that I did have some new things to say, so, since I'm writing this, obviously I'm not stopping after all. 

Trying lefsa

On a weeklong road trip in the Midwest, with my Honey, (trying that one on), I saw the World's Largest Talking Cow, Chatty Belle, in Neillsville, Wisconsin. which you can read about in Roadside America.  Other fun adventures included a six-mile run walk through the amazing Stevens Point Sculpture Park. Good times with his family included a visit to the Norske Nook, where I had elderberry pancakes, and tasting lefsa, a Norwegian bread.

With Marianne after tennis win

I keep saying I might quit league tennis, because I play enough without it and it stresses me out at times, but I finished the regular season with a win and changed my mind. The win was "the icing on the cake" of a nice day that included a pleasant ride to The Berkshires with tennis friends, good communication and good fun with my partner, and a competitive match where we got a lot of exercise and everyone got along. 

Usually the Pittsfield team wins, so it helped to go out there with low expectations. It reminds me of when with Donna I played my first 3.5 match not expecting to win, and then winning because I hadn't put any pressure on myself. We won't spoil the mood by getting into what happened during the rest of the season.