What I Learned from A to Z in 2014

This was my second year for the A to Z Challenge.  After completing the challenge last year, I had a lot of time to think about what I would post.  So, when I set off for Europe last September, I knew that I would have to find cities or places to fill out my alphabet soup if I was going to use the trip for this year's challenge.

I learned more this year than last.  First and foremost I learned to write posts ahead of time.  Really write them ahead, not just have A is for Alligator.  Then, once I figured that out, I learned to actually to schedule them for publication.  (why have I never done this in the past?)  This way I could go back and work on them right up until publication date, but if something came up, the post would still be in decent shape to move forward.  (Something like having your grandson born half way through the month.)

There were several things I discovered this month while reading new blogs.  I ended up with lots of questions.  Like, why sign up and then not even make one post?  Or, if you are going to quit, why not post that you are quitting - don't just disappear.  Did you have a serious accident?  Turns out that a regular commenter (is that a word?) on one of the blogs I follow was in hospice.  Kinda nice to know.  Even on the next to the last day I was finding blogs that stopped back at letter L or whatever.

And speaking of comments, why do people turn off the ability to comment?  Are you just not interested in what anyone has to say?  What if I don't want to subscribe to your Twitter feeds?  Why no way to follow without receiving constant emails?

While I like the fact that blogs had categories, how about a category #23 for folks who bring religion into their blogs?  Consistently.  I am just not interested in how your life is built around your faith.

I happily discovered several new blogs to follow, lost some of my old favorites (where are you?), and had some delightful folks follow me and comment.

I know that a couple of times I hit a nerve, but that is me.  What I say in my posts is not accidental, but calculated to make people think.  It's just my frustrated wanna-be journalist coming out mixed with my life in politics.  If I sometimes make you uncomfortable, then I have likely achieved my goal.

But the primary purpose this last month was to share with each of you the pictures of the places I visited last year.  I hope you enjoyed them.

I am already thinking about next year.  I have two lists prepared.  My choice will depend on what happens over the next eleven months.

If you participated in the challenge and finished, Congratulations!  If you were visiting here for the first time, I hope you stick around.  I'll be back to blogging about my garden, my cooking, my life, and my adventures with my new grandson.  Thanks for being here.

As an aside, someone once asked me how I would describe myself in one word.  I chose 'survivor'.  I've survived life in more ways than one, but never thought it would be applied to blogging, :-).