Time Out

There have been no posts on North Western Winds since Saturday morning about 3 days ago, give or take. I've been mulling this post over for a few days, wondering if I should do this or not. I wondered at first if it was just my aching body being angry at me for overdoing it on the weekend and washing the house (not the car, the house). Now that I'm recovering and still shying away from my blogging tools, I think it's more than that. Don't worry, I'm not pulling the plug on NWW. I am, however, facing a nasty blogging wall right now. I suspect that a hiatus will allow me to get back on track. I don't know how long I'll need, but I have had a personal webpage and kept it updated off and on for many years, long before there was anything like Blogger. I'm going to guess that two months might do it. If that isn't enough, I'd be very surprised if I wasn't blogging again by the end of the summer. It was not a coincidence that I started NWW in August, when the gardening and summer travel season were winding down. I have been posting almost every day since then. It's a lot more than I ever imagined I would be doing. Blogging can be very addictive. I'm sure many of you know that already. It's also a time vacuum. What will I do? I plan to read more - my off line reading took a pretty big hit from all that writing. It was very good to get all of that off my mind and to hear back from others. That was what I made the move to Blogger for, after all. I also expect to spend time with my wife, in the garden and on a few small road trips - enjoying and reflecting. I'm a fan of reflection and recommend it to everyone. It's great for getting a better and a deeper perspective. I expect I might miss out on some things by dropping out now. We might, for example, have a new government in Canada before I return to regular posting. I haven't done too much political blogging, however. It often feels like Monday morning quaterbacking; there are many more knowledgeable bloggers on that subject than yours truly. I also want to say thanks to everyone who took the time to tell me they like what I'm doing here. I do get fanmail, which is a great perk. Three Bad Fingers made me laugh when he wrote me to say: Your posts read like math proofs, but not nearly as boring. That was intended as a compliment (I was a math major, so my humor is often impaired). You are exactly the kind of blogger I enjoy reading. I will come back often. Anne Basso wrote: I discovered your blog this evening. It is incredibly thoughtful and well-written. I am a Catholic homeschooling mom, and have added you to my list of favorite blogs on my site. NWW has been popular with university students of all kinds and also teachers, especially Catholic ones. I've also enjoyed exchanges with those who disagreed. Greg at Sinsiter Thoughts has been especially good about sharing a different point of view, as have a few others - Ben, Andrew, and Peter. The other Peters have also been great - one, and two. These kind folks asked me if I wanted to contribute to their new webzine; I declined as I felt NWW was already sucking up a lot of time. Least missed blogger? That really annoying and dumb pirate. Red Ensign folks will know who I mean. I hope everyone will keep me on their blogrolls and bookmarks. I'm looking forward to coming back with fresh eyes and more to share. In the meantime, this unfortunate post was written on the same day B16 was elected Pope and was probably ignored as a result. I'm still open to thinking about it.