You may have noticed something new! Yes, we have updated our site extensively. It has been the source of much frustration for writers and readers alike. Our short preview of winter last week, which lasted three to four days and brought near-freezing temperatures and wet weather, meant the perfect opportunity to enjoy our token cups of coffee and get to work. I do not need to tell those of you who are bloggers how much time it takes to get everything to run as smoothly as possible. We are finally there! Though it may not be “visible” to you, all this work was done in anticipation of resource-intensive content over the next five months, leading up to the totality of the solar eclipse we will see, and be on the perfect path to see on April 8, 2024. Why am I mentioning that date?
As I previously posted, this year has been challenging and brought me to my knees in more ways than one. Only one for giving up on something once no other option remains, the blog revival started in the last few weeks has been a work of resilience, persistence, and a veritable desire to stay true to its purpose: creating connections that allow us to learn from and support one another without prejudice, judgment, or expectation – other than seeing a different perspective and broadening our knowledge and desire for growth and insight. The period between the annular solar eclipse last month and the total solar eclipse next year is the time I have given myself to continue blogging and then reassess and make a final decision. There’s nothing like two eclipses bringing clarity, no pun intended.
What started as an amateurish, spur-of-the-moment leisure pursuit became an unexpected success with a broad readership and loyal following. While indeed a positive experience, the achievement has meant investing to ensure the blog could handle the traffic and continue to be ad-free. Since the number of likes, follows, endorsements, views, and threads on social media platforms drive advertisers’ interest, it is no surprise that that is not an option in my case (I do not need nor seek validation through those platforms). I am old school: inscrutable algorithms and social media lemming frenzies do not align with my values. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy social media in small doses, but I am “organic” and have relied – and still do – on word of mouth and unforced sharing. I am always grateful to those who do.
Back to updates and near-endless days and nights of coding, restoring, and tweaking. Although I wrote that most things are not visible to you, I invite you to explore the blog anew and find new bits and pieces, for example, here, that are meant to make your visit more enjoyable and straightforward. To keep things streamlined and operational, more minor changes will occur soon without being announced. If you would like us to add some features, please let us know. And, of course, if you find something that is not working, please point it out, and we will do our best to correct the issue. Happy reading!