9 years

I never would have imagined 9 years ago when I posted my first blip that I would still be blipping 9 years later!  OK - so I'm less particular about my images and I'm not so concerned about physically posting them every day, but I do take at least one image every day and I do 'mentally compose' what I'll write.  

I am hugely grateful too teejay who introduced me to blip back then.  From memory, it was almost love-at-first-sight.  Back then, things looked different.  The modest grey background, the minimalist links in pale yellow, the 12-image grid of images butted onto one another.  The community was a lot smaller then too.  From memory, there were only a small handful of kiwis who were 'blippers' - now there are more than that number in my small town alone.  The intervening years have brought many, many more to the community from all around the globe which has expanded our view of the world enormously.  I'm still mesmerised by the glimpses of everyday life that are shared from around the world, and whilst I don't comment much, I do still love looking and reading about others' corners of the world.  Blip is certainly a global village now.

So today's wee celebration was by way of mowing the lawns and picking up some of the growing number of autumn leaves that are beginning to fall.  Amazing coincidence this lot fell as they did...!  

LB of course, has been a constant part of my blip journey so of course, had to be included.  I wish mum could have shared the day with me, and Bene and Pudz too.  The past 14 months or so have taken their toll, but I'm still here and I plan on staying.  

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the vision and action of Joe and the original blip team, to whom I extend a massive (if possibly unheard?) THANK YOU!   But times have changed.  Whilst some of those changes have given the site a different look and feel, the heart of the site is the community of people who simply love doing what I love doing - taking pictures and sharing them.  We're now indebted to those brave and spirited folks at the new blip central who have taken on the gowns of leadership to keep our blip boat afloat.  Massive thanks to each of you for setting things in place that have allowed me to reach this milestone.

So it's onward and forward now to tomorrow.........