Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Seven-Year Itch: A Blogiversary Post

Today, I am celebrating my seventh "blogiversary." My first blog post was January 24, 2010. In seven years, I've published 1,567 posts, and there have been more than 1.6 million "page hits" on Kim's County Line.

I may be suffering from the so-called "seven-year itch," a psychological term that suggests that happiness in a relationship declines after year seven. Originally, the phrase was coined in conjunction with marriage. (Thankfully, that didn't happen to me.)

However, the phrase has since expanded to indicate cycles not only in interpersonal relationships but in any situation such as working a full-time job or buying a house, where a decrease in happiness and satisfaction is often seen over long periods of time. (This is according to Wikipedia, so it must be right, right?!)
During the past year, the frequency of my posts has slowed. Early in the process, I was blogging six days a week. That slowed to five days a week. This past year, I've blogged two or three days a week. Let's get real:  Nobody besides my parents and my Aunt Opal want to read me every day. Plus, it's stressful to feel like I "have" to do it. (I published 265 posts in 2010, 250 in 2012, 206 in 2015 and only 142 in 2016.)

Still, I'm not ready to give it up completely. Kim's County Line gives me a venue to tell stories about the farm, family, faith and food, as well as share my photography.
My latest blog book arrived last week. Each quarter, I publish a hard-copy version of the blog. I am running out of storage space. But I also know it's a comprehensive history of our life on a Kansas farm. I often say that it's a pity that blogging and digital photography weren't available when Jill and Brent were little. Maybe their life stories would be better organized and exist outside of plastic tubs!

I am certainly no Pioneer Woman or Ann Voskamp in terms of blog followers or page hits. It can be frustrating if I play the comparison game. Comparison is never healthy, though it's human (at least this version of human struggles mightily with it).
 
However, I believe the positives outweigh the negatives. Writing has made me more aware. For some of the posts about farming, I've approached the task like the reporter I am. I've "interviewed" my farmer and written down his answers. I've asked the questions and listened carefully, instead of halfheartedly, so I could answer the "whys" and "wherefores" of a modern farming operation.
I've noticed the beauty all around me, and I've taken thousands of photographs to document the magnificence of simple things - of rainbows and ice on fences and sunflowers along ditches and baby calves nestled against their mamas. And I've come to realize how precious these little glimpses of time are.

Developing friendships with people you only know from their blogs is one of the fringe benefits. I've developed long-distance friendships with other bloggers from across the U.S., from Canada and even from Australia. 

I look at Kim's County Line a little like a journal or diary. Maybe, someday, I'll have a great-grandchild or even a stranger know a little about life in the early 21st century on a Kansas farm. But instead of finding it written in cursive on a paper page, it will be documented in the photos and words captured in one little piece of the internet.

I do thank those of you who visit my little spot on the internet - whether it's every time I post or just on occasion. Thanks for joining me on the journey.

Want to know why it's called Kim's County Line? Click here for my very first post to find out.

6 comments:

  1. Kim, I love your blog it is the first thing I look at every morning as it gives me a glimpse of home that I could never get anywhere else. For this I am so grateful. Have you given the museum copies of your blog books? Thanks again for giving me a wonderful start to my day. Mary Jane Hawver McEntire

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    1. Thank you for your kind words, Mary Jane. No, the books are fairly pricey. But if my kids don't want them (which may happen), then maybe they can donate them to the museum.

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  2. Happy 7th Blogiversary!! That is an incredible achievement. I do so love reading your blog and seeing your fantastic photos. Together they paint a wonderful picture of life on a farm in Kansas, some of it similar to our life on an Aussie farm and some of it very different (like the ice on your header photo at the moment!). I truly treasure our friendship across the miles that have come about because of blogging. May you continue to find inspiration to write and photograph.

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  3. Kim,
    I understand your "seven year itch." I had stopped contemplating if I should quit the blog a short while ago. Like you, I love to share my photographs and life on a South Dakota cattle ranch. The blog friends across the miles are priceless.

    I've noticed a trend across blog land of less posts. I think that's ok. I enjoy reading about ranch and farm women across the States, Canada and Australia too. I am grateful for those that still publish a post about their ag culture.

    I am thankful for your friendship and always enjoy your blog posts!

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  4. Kim, the title of today's post gave me quite a start. I thought you were going to find other things to do. Congratulations on 7 years of blogging. I've only been along such a short while and am so glad that the journey will continue.

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  5. I appreciate each of you so much. While I've never met you in person, I value the friendships that have developed because of our mutual love of blogging and photography. Thanks for being among my faithful readers and know that I am glad to have "met" you. I look forward to more stories and sharing with - and from - all of you.

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