Milestone

I first took up blogging in June 2005. I can't really remember why. I think I had stumbled upon a couple of blogs while exploring the net and probably thought, "I could do that". Having dabbled in writing since childhood and being an opinionated so-and-so, I saw that blogging could be both a release valve and a means of publishing without the hindrance of editors or publishers. More recently, I have enjoyed using my blog to share photographs with visitors.

Essentially, making a blog can be like making a diary. When I look back on the last six years, I see how my life has proceeded. Many notable things have happened. My beloved mother and oldest brother died. My football team made it to The Premiership. I escaped from my teaching career through early retirement. Frances got her A levels and went to university - then joined the rat race. Shirley and I visited India, Morocco and Hong Kong. My brother-in-law, Norman and my mother-in-law, Winnie died. Boris, our cat, disappeared. We had a family holiday in California. Ian bought a house. I took up an unexpected opportunity to teach in Thailand... Without this blog, those events, those moments would have mingled in the swamp of my memory. The blog has allowed me to mark them all.

Visitors have come and gone like other blogs I once I enjoyed. Thank you to my regular visitors who have stuck with me for a long time now - Jenny in Wrexham, Robert in Georgia, Ian at "Shooting Parrots", Katherine in NZ, Elizabeth, Lord John Gray, Jan at Sloughhouse, Helen in Brisbane, Michael in Sydney and to the people who visit but never leave comments - Oldham Mike, Mick, Richard in Minneapolis, Sofia, Tricky Trev etc.. Thank you all.

It's like a journey. When I set out in June 2005, I didn't know how far my blog would travel or for how long. Perhaps I'll still be writing it on my deathbed. "Nurse! Nurse! Bring me a laptop!"

Getting sleepy now. The morphine gives me bizarre dreams. They say

I've only got a few days left, perhaps hours, perhaps min.... shit! So adiós amigos!