Holy Cow!

(And why is it that only cows get blessed in this way?  I guess Holy Chicken! just doesn't have the same ring, but one wonders.)

Regardless, it's hard to believe another year has already come and gone.  For me, it's been one of those win some-lose some years.  My stack of chips (and a few trees) may be down a bit, but in the long run I'm still ahead of the game.  I don't make resolutions for the new year.  I wake up every morning resolved to get more done, to get ahead of deadlines, not to procrastinate, to dust.  I spend so much time on the guilt train on a daily basis that I really don't need to make resolutions for a year ahead.  The only promise to myself that I do keep is to try.

Another thing hard to believe is that I'm heading into the fourth year of writing this journal and how many pop in for a look-see at what's going on at the farm.  I started keeping a list of the countries that show up on the stats page of the blogsite; it's simply astounding and I'd like to share (in order of appearance).

United States, Colombia, Canada, China, Japan, Denmark, Latvia, Russia, Poland, Indonesia, India, South Africa, Spain, Chile, France, Vietnam, Germany, Taiwan, Brazil, Italy, Pakistan, Ecuador, Iraq, Iran, Philippines, Netherlands, South Korea, Mexico, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Armenia, Slovenia, Israel, Slovakia, Singapore, Belgium, Georgia (the country, not the state), Venezuela, Belarus, Malaysia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Mongolia, Honduras, Hong Kong, Serbia, Tunisia, Moldova, Turkey, Nigeria, Sudan, Macedonia, Lebanon, Gabon, Switzerland, Australia, Kazakhstan.

In three years, there has been a total of 40,593 visitors.  That blows my hair back!  I realize there are some who read because they know me and it's a way to keep in touch, but what about readers in Belarus or Kazakhstan?  Are they farmers who want to compare notes?  Are the readers in Iraq or Iran members of the Armed Forces who want to touch base with home?  And how do readers in these far-away places find Farview Farm in the first place?  How I wish the blogsite made it easier to leave a comment without jumping through hoops.  In that regard it's not particularly user friendly.  I'd love to "meet" some more of the readers, like those who have signed on as Followers. Maybe it's better this way.  It lets my imagination go free wheeling without rein.  There are friends I forced to watch one of my favorite movies, "The Story of the Weeping Camel," that ends with a family on the Mongolian plains sitting in a yurt with a satellite dish and a generator.  Perhaps it's a housewife in a high-rise in Paris who reads TVFFF to take a break from city life.  Maybe that's how this works.  As I've said many times, I don't go anywhere and I don't do anything, but isn't it grand to think this little farm goes all over the world?

Happy New Year, world!