A Dozen: A Blogiversary

 

Sunset from my front window on The County Line, January 21, 2022

A dozen eggs.

A dozen doughnuts.

A dozen roses.

A dozen years of Kim's County Line.

On January 24, I celebrated another blogiversary. It's been a dozen years since I began Kim's County Line. When I clicked "Publish" for the first time in 2010, I didn't really have a clear vision of what the blog would entail. At the time, three family members were blogging. I'd been asked to write a monthly blog column for a local church group. Once I figured out the logistics, I decided to try a personal blog.

These days, vlogs (video blogs) and podcasts and Instagram and Twitter all have more cache than an old-fashioned blog. But Kim's County Line has persisted, even though it's evolved during the 12 years. I'm the only one in my family who is still blogging. The church group no longer makes its monthly posts. 

 

However, today is my 2,069th blog post on Kim's County Line. Through the years, I say that it's evolved into a place where I talk about the four "F"s and a "PH" - farming, family, faith, food and photography. I subtitled the blog, "Camera Clicks and Commentary from a Kansas Farm Wife."

Sunrise, January 18, 2022

For the past 12 years, my blog has helped me track our lives on a five-generation Central Kansas farm. Having this avenue to collect words and photos has helped me to connect with our heritage and this life in a different way. It's been a good avenue for connecting with landlords, letting them know what's going on at the farm and showing them through words and photos.

 

Probably the biggest impact has been on me. 

 

It's helped me pay attention. I've approached telling our story like the reporter I am. I take notes. I ask more questions. I want my farmer's "farm speak" translated in a way that makes sense to me so I can share it with others. 

 

It's given me the opportunity to hone my photography skills. While I don't claim to be Ansel Adams, I can see how my photography has improved during the past 12 years. (Just comparing food photography from 2010 to now is startling. And that's just one example.) 

Photography and prose help me look at even the most mundane, everyday things in new ways and with new wonder. It may be something as simple as the sunset-streaked sky or a chance rainbow smack dab in the middle of two of Kansas' biggest icons - sunflowers and wheat. The blog has given me the eyes to see how small, simple things are really the most important things of all. 

 

This isn't even half of the blog books I've printed - 1 book per quarter for 12 years. If the kids aren't interested, I hope they'll give them to the Stafford County Museum.

 

If you're a regular reader, you know that we plan to retire from farming after our summer 2022 wheat harvest. We have a farm sale scheduled for August 2022. However, I'm still doing my five-days-a-week Central Kansas report for KFRM, and I still have plenty of volunteer activities on my to-do list. 

 

I don't have a definitive answer about the future of the blog. I anticipate it will change some, simply because we won't be doing the day-to-day farm work. And, if we're traveling or away from home, I'm going to try to feel more relaxed about missing a post. (I'm sure I'm the only one who really cares anyway.)

Right now, we'll see how it evolves. It won't be the first time I've shifted directions. At first, I was blogging six days a week. (What was I thinking?) That's been condensed to a couple of times most weeks. We'll see how things play out during a new phase of life. 

 

But isn't that the definition of life itself? Life is always changing, and we figure out the ways we'll evolve with it. 

Thanks for making the journey with me! It's my blogiversary, but to celebrate, one person will get a gift from me ...

• a selection of my photo notecards, or ...

 

•  a copy of "Count on It! Adventures from a Kansas Farm" my rhyming, farm-themed counting book, ...

• OR my farm alphabet book

To qualify, either comment about this blog post in the comment section of the blog or on my Facebook page, Kim Moore Fritzemeier. Or, if you have trouble with either of those avenues, you may email me at rkjbfarms@gmail.com. The winner will be chosen at random from the commenters. Enter your comment by January 31 for a chance to win.

Again, I thank you for visiting Kim's County Line!