At that time we were living in Virginia's "Northern Neck" in a community called Glebe Harbor. We had moved there with the intention of staying permanently. The house was a modest rambler situated on a cove not far from the lower Potomac River. We enjoyed a water view from the back deck, where we could watch birds like this great blue heron.
That wasn't enough to keep us there, though. The community felt isolated, too far from a large town. And in those days, it did not have high-speed internet. We only had dial-up access over aging phone lines. Even with images turned off, it took several minutes for a page to load. I could literally click on a link, go to the kitchen and get a cup of coffee, and return before the page finished loading! For someone who had worked as an internet professional, it was very irritating!
For blogging, I often prepared my photos beforehand, drove 20 minutes to a library that had high-speed access, and did the post from my laptop there. Needless to say I did not post very frequently.
About that same distance from the house was the Westmoreland County seat of Montross, a charming town which had a basic supermarket and some small stores. But the supermarket was second-rate with a sad selection of produce so I was unhappy with that, although in late summer I could buy vegetables at farm stands. If I needed specialty items for my wheat-free milk-free diet, I had to drive 90 minutes to Fredericksburg. I could also find high quality dog food there. But that meant 3 hours of driving round-trip, and it was tiring.
After spending summer in that home, we decided to move to our vacation home in Bryce Resort. It was smaller and still in a rural area, but local shopping was better, internet was fast, and a decent-sized city was only an hour away. We made that move in September 2005.
By December I was posting almost daily. During the following year, I wrote 410 posts. Since then I have averaged over a post a day. It's a good hobby for a photographer who loves the internet.
Sharing with Saturday Critters and The Bird D'Pot
Congratulations, Linda, on this amazing accomplishment. It is quite a feat! Thank you for all those wonderful images and impressions from your corner of the world! I am grateful you share your world with us!
ReplyDeleteTo many more posts and may you always enjoy sharing them,
Merisi
Lovely high contrast photo. Congratulations on your ten years of blogging :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your 10th year of blogging. I look forward to many more of your post. Love the heron shot! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy day!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I remember those days when connecting to the internet was so time consuming!! I'm happy to know you stuck with blogging and for ....10 years too!!
ReplyDeleteI would love the rural style...and to have a view like you had before you moved, that would be a bit of heaven. But, again...I can understand the frustrations and perhaps boredom. I do like the amenities of a larger city.
Beautiful image you shared!!!
You're a pioneer of blogging! And a persistent one!
ReplyDeletecongrats on 10 years! love the image you posted here.
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting to read about where you were and what caused you to make the decision to go elsewhere. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI saw you on Saturday's Critters, congrats on 10 years of sharing!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 10 years of blogging!
ReplyDeleteHi Linda - my first visit here to your blog. I've 'hopped' over from Eileen's. But 10 years of blogging well done.
ReplyDeleteWill come back for another visit soon.
All the best Jan
Wow! Congrats for ten amazing years. Hope you continue at least 10 more.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on ten years of blogging! That's a great shot!
ReplyDeleteI gave up posting daily. I get so busy that I don't want to be on my blog all day... or all week as far as that goes.
ReplyDeleteBlogging is a great hobby for a photographer! Glad I found you on the internet!
ReplyDeletelovely reflection
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on ten years of blogging. I love the photo in this post.
ReplyDeleteTen years of blogging is impressive!
ReplyDeleteWe cannot get high speed here and I often do the same thing.... Drive to the library to upload pics on my blog posts. We get internet through our cell phones and some days it is really slow.
Quite a milestone!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful heron photo! And wow...you have been with blogging for a long time. Congrats on your blogoversary! Also, I loved learning more about you. I can understand why you didn't stay in the Northern Neck, but so glad you moved to the area where you now are. We had planned to end up not far from Farmville, Roanoke, and Fredricksburg (somewhere in that triangular area) but we ended up here in Tucson because of the kids. I miss Virginia (and Alabama) but I wouldn't trade being here with them for anything. It was a good decision. As you know, sometimes plans just change. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely photo! And Congrats!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if I even knew blogs existed in 2005! Congratulations on your blog anniversary. Technology has come a long way.
ReplyDeleteI take this opportunity to congratulate you for having this blog, after more than 10 years.
ReplyDelete