Many you may wonder why the title of this post has the #1,000 in it. It is a significant post for me, as this is the 1,000th photo that I have posted on my blog. Back in May 2011, I embarked on this journey to start a blog that would document my travels and experiences after my early retirement. At that time, I had a number of family and friends that encouraged me to post my photos so others might see them. I wasn't sure that anyone would be interested, but decided to give it a go. I made a commitment to post five days a week, and I have stayed pretty much true to that commitment (except during any trips and vacations in the early three years).
I must say that the rewards that I have experienced have been well beyond my expectations. The most valuable rewards are the people that I have met online, and then later in person. The first group that embraced me were other photographers and bloggers that liked my work and often commented on my blog. Later, non-photographers somehow discovered my blog and followed it. Before this started, I didn't have much of a network of fellow bloggers and photographers, but now I can safely say that it is quite robust. I don't say this because of any ego but rather in amazement.
Over the past few years, many of the bloggers have stopped their blogs and are now posting on their social media of choice. I too have chosen my main social media outlet, Facebook. I started dual posting on my blog and Facebook in August 2014 so that many of you have actually been reading my blog since then if you follow me on Facebook. I still post five days a week on the blog and seven days a week on Facebook (my friend Jeff Clow convinced me to post some of my pre-August 2014 blog posts on the weekend, which turned out to be great advice, as usual).
In closing, the reason I have written this post is not for any congratulations. I am writing this post to thank all of you who have liked, commented, followed me, helped me along the way and supported my efforts. Writing 1,000 blog posts is a lot of work, but the rewards of your support and encouragement has been so well worth it. My gratitude for it is heart felt. Thanks and on to 2,000...