I have had the pleasure of having three bloggers visit me here at Sand Creek this past year: Lynne and RuthieJ (who arrived on the same day in February), and Heidi (who only lives less than five miles away, and whom I had the pleasure to see the other day with her beautiful family at the organic store in town). Today I was thrilled to add a fourth blogger to this life list of sorts.
Greg, aka the dharma bum, from The Dharma Blog, was perhaps the first Minnesota blogger I started following on a regular basis. His tales of fly fishing and canoe paddling and life are always well written and leave me with a longing for adventure. He has been a regular commenter here since the first year I started blogging, and I am going on four years now.
Greg e-mailed me earlier this week, saying he had a job-related retreat at the Audubon Center of the North Woods this weekend, and could he perhaps stop by afterwards on Sunday afternoon? Sand Creek is within thirty miles of the center. Why yes, of course! Although I'm not exactly a social butterfly, I enjoy visitors here, especially ones I feel I already know through heartfelt blog posts and comments.
On this rainy afternoon, our land still draining from an inch of rain yesterday, Greg parked his car out front, not wanting to risk the ominous looking puddles that loomed in the drive to the house. I don't blame him. I met him halfway on the driveway, and it was like greeting an old friend. I showed him around, and we had a beer and chatted, along with The Hermit, around the (unlit) wood stove. If it hadn't been raining, I had planned on maybe a walk out to the pond, to Sand Creek, to all the places that I have blogged about. But just talking was enjoyable enough for today.
I am always amazed at the connections I have made through blogging, across the country, around the world. Yes, it is sometimes awkward when you meet a blogger in real life, because somehow you feel you know them already, so there's this introductory chitchat that does not need to happen, but yet you need to fill in a few details. And hopefully you come away with a real life connection. And we all need as many friends as we can get. Thanks Greg, friend, for driving out of your way to my little corner of the world today.
11 comments:
Neat!
You are really racking them up.
Your description of meeting someone you feel like you already know is very accurate.
FC- I know you and Thingfish have met...it is kind of deja vu and kind of strange at the same time, isn't it?
Anyway, you are definitely one of the bloggers I would like to meet in person some day...if I ever make it that way for a memory visit to St. Augustine and the St. Johns River.
How cool Deb! I am so looking forward to meeting Lynne and Ruthie too. :c) It's so neat to be able to connect in this way. Glad it was such a good day.
I've only done one blogger meet up, and it didn't go so well. I hardly ever visit her blog anymore. I guess I'm just a misanthrope with hermiting tendencies. Still, you are one person I would like to meet. We could talk about the wild fish in my lake.
I didn't think it was possible, but I'm only going to enjoy reading your blog more now that I've met you and your family and seen your homestead.
I love the sentence describing the rainy day, the "ominous" puddles, and my parking decision. :) Like any good writer, you put the events of the day in a way that crystallizes it in my mind's eye better than my own memory. Funny to read something on your blog where I was the subject after all these years of following along.
Hope to see you again soon! And everybody else: I highly recommend a visit to Sand Creek.
ps - the "word verification" on this comment is "cbird". Isn't that appropriate for this blog?
Pablo, I would think a meet-up would be a much different feel than running into (or planning to meet) someone on a one-on-one basis.
Dharma Bum, you're the person I "know" from my work life and I've even commented on your blog, except under another name. Small world!
Deb, check out the Hawk Ridge website. Today, Monday, Sept.15 they had over 22,000 hawks counted!! We're headed up this weekend!
That's neat Deb. I'm glad you guys had a good visit (in spite of the marginal weather conditions).
Jayne- You'll like them. Hopefully we'll meet up on a birding trip some day!
Pablo- So you and The Hermit would get along just fine!
Dharma Bum- (and now I feel kinda strange calling you by a blogger name!) Funny, I kind of wrote that part without thinking how it set the whole scene. You did make a wise parking choice; our driveway leaves a lot to be desired.
I do hope to see you again soon, as well as any of my commenters here: you're all welcome any time! Come to Sand Creek and "cbird"!
Meadowlark- funny how bloggers are connected.
Cindy- I hope to find some time to head up there myself. I would have liked to have seen the Mississippi kites!
RuthieJ- It's finally drying out here. Yes, it was a great visit.
Hey Deb,
That's awesome that you and Greg had a chance to meet. I'm hoping to catch him in NYC this week if all goes well. He'll be the first blogger I meet in person, and appropriately so since he was also the first person to ever comment when I had Leaning Birch back in the day. I hope we'll cross paths one of these days too. I still think of the jelly you sent. :)
Smiles,
Lené
Lene- Good luck! I'm sure you two will get along well. He is about as genuine of a person as I've ever met.
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