Venezuela Bound

My apologies for the lack of new content around here this month. No excuses, really, but I'm going to make some just the same.

First off, I had a birthday on April 10 that became more like a birthweek! People came out of the woodwork to make big birthday wishes, complete with all the associated goodies and libations. Thanks to everyone for ensuring that I was not in bed before 1 AM on any night between April 6 and April 13. You know who you are, and these massive dark circles now permanently entrenched under my eyes are for you!

Secondly, I have taken up downhill skiing (admittedly rather late in life), and spent last weekend graduating from the bunny hill to intermediate bumps. Having spent many winter days down in river valleys waist deep in water, it was quite a change to spend some time up on the mountain peaks I was previously gazing upon. Here's some proof that I was there:

And last but most certainly not least, I'm about to head off on a Fly Fishing adventure to Venezuela. That's right, starting this Sunday, my buddy Dustin and I will be swilling rum while we wander the massive flats of Los Roques in search of bonefish and tarpon. Sound kinda weird? Well, have a look at this photo and tell me if it still seems weird.

To me it looks like paradise! I'll be sure to provide some updates from paradise upon my return!

The 2000 Club

Big news here at the Digglings today – an accomplishment of sorts. According to my site counter report (which comes out on Mondays), the Digglings had its 2000th visitor sometime last week.

(In reality, the 2000th visit was probably some time ago, as I didn’t install the counter right away, and I’ve been known to inadvertently turn it off from time to time. Still, I have it set to ignore visits from me, so I avoid the temptation to constantly return to the site just to pad the numbers. The counter also distinguishes between unique visits and page views, so if you jump to another page in the site, it doesn’t get added as an extra visit. The 2000th page view was about a year ago. I chose not to celebrate.)

Now, 2000 visitors isn’t much for some sites (most sites, really), but for me it’s an accomplishment that I take pride in. It means that at least a few people are entertained by what appears here, and value it enough to return from time to time. I can’t tell you how good that makes me feel, other than to say “Hey, that makes me feel really, really good!”

In honor of the occasion, I went back and had a look at my very first entry, written on August 24, 2005. In that entry I defined diggling as “random minings of the mind, my mind, in particular”. Since that time, there have been lots of entries (73 in fact!). Admittedly, they have been hit and miss; occasionally over self-indulgent, often riddled with poor grammar (I never did know what a dangling participle was…), sometimes more ranting than necessary. But in the end, each entry represents thoughts and experiences that I felt were worth sharing, and the fact that so many people have dropped by since that first entry means that in many cases, I was on the right track.

So, this entry really isn’t about bragging rights. Instead, it’s a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who feels inclined to visit the Digglings - my Digglings.

I tell people that I write for myself. In a way, I’m a big fat liar. I write to communicate, to share. It takes more than one to share, and I thank each of you for sharing with me.

Here’s to our next 2000 visits!