Friday 14 October 2011

Bloggers and Friends! A Celebration of Five Hundred Posts




Five hundred times my shadow touched the world wide web,
with thought and story, laughter, tears and image.
Where did each shadow go?

Each time my finger bid the cursor send the shadow on its way,
I hoped that someone, somewhere, saw me flit across their screen,
arrest the movement for a moment,
and share my thought.
my story, tears or laughter.

If you then came to tell me that you liked what was on offer,
I thank you kindly, the pleasure was all mine.
Your words have given me much joy. 
You touched my heart, 
and taught me what it means to join in friendship
with kindred spirits from across the seas.

To those of you who joined the band of followers
I say I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Each new recruit has made me glad to be a part of our world.
To those of you who left again
I say I'm sorry;
I never meant to hurt or give offence.
Perhaps we simply found no common ground.

So on we go,
we merry band of bloggers.
may others criticise and scoff.
When times are hard, or when a pleasure must be shared,
when something new or unexpected calls for close attention,
when world events beyond control cause anger or despair,
or when we simply want to say hello, I'm here,
where are you, friends,
 we send our shadows out into the world,
embracing goodwill, love, benevolence and joy;
We hope that they will fall on fertile ground,
bring forth a world of peace and understanding.




USW


70 comments:

  1. Personally, I've found both your blog & your comments to be perceptive & at times prescient...& I'm glad to have "met" you.
    ~Mary

    ReplyDelete
  2. I probably don't comment as often as I might, but your blog has been a favourite place to visit, for the best part of two years now. Congratulations, Friko. Here's to the next 500!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You put it so well, Friko: this scattering of people who touch each other's lives. Congratulations on 500 posts. I must delve back into all of those that you wrote before I became aware of you; I know it would be worth my while.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Friko - congratulations on all the lovely 500 posts you've written. I've loved everyone of them. xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations! Your posts are always interesting, well-written, thought-provoking. Onwards and upwards - here's to the next 500! (slurps a glass of good white wine . . . )

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations. I have read many of them and enjoyed them thoroughly.

    Do you think if we stood on our heads and snapped our photos our feet would be small and our heads large?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations Friko, 500! Your blog is always an absolute pleasure to visit. Here's to another 500 wonderful posts x

    ReplyDelete
  8. 500 is a milestone! Happy blogging and congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is beautifully written, Friko! But, nothing that escapes your braincells is ever anything less than thoroughly pleasing, greatly entertaining and frequently most informative. I'm so glad you chose to cast your shadow around the world! It has been a privilege getting to know you. Congratulations on your sterling achievement. 500 posts is impressive by anyones standards, but 500 of the calibre of yours is truly worth celebrating. I raise my glass of Rose to you :) Please keep writing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Huzzah! Huzzah!

    Isn't blogging a wonderful hobby? But more than that, too. One would never know by just hearing that term "blogger," what value this exercise brings to our lives.

    Here's to 500 more, Friko, and thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the shadow-shot...and may you keep on for many shadows more, Friko!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for visiting. Sorry about the headache. Actually, the original seventh syllable in the solfege series was 'si,' short for sancte iohannes, the addressee of the Latin hymn from which the first six syllables were derived. If you enjoy things Carolingian, you might enjoy my "Instruments of Torture" (#133, Nov, 2010). More later.
    Sgt. Smithe-Magee

    ReplyDelete
  13. "If you then came to tell me that you liked what was on offer,
    I thank you kindly, the pleasure was all mine.
    Your words have given me much joy.
    You touched my heart,
    and taught me what it means to join in friendship
    with kindred spirits from across the seas."

    Me too, Friko - me too!

    This is THE post that tells what bloggers are all about and it should be widely read. I'm sharing it on my FaceBook & Google+.

    You were wrong about one thing though:
    knowing YOU is MY pleasure!



    Warm Aloha from Waikiki;

    Comfort Spiral



    > < } } ( ° >

    ReplyDelete
  14. ♫ ♫ ♪ ♫٠•٠·˙˙HAPPY BLOGDAY٠·˙˙·٠• TO YOU٠·♫ ♫ ♪

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations on this milepost and for your perfect description of why we bloggers blog. I so enjoy your posts, your honest and refreshing approach, to this endeavor.

    One of the merry band,
    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  16. A touching post Friko. Congratulations on this marker in your blogging life. It is a joy to follow you.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This does touch a common feeling with us all. (Only 500? You are such an infant in the shadow releasing contest. ;-) )

    ReplyDelete
  18. I've just past the 200 mark and have a long way to go to catch you, congrats on you're 500th :-).

    ReplyDelete
  19. Congrats on reaching 500 posts... and you celebrate with such a beautiful post too :-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. This post put a huge grin on my face. It perfectly describes why I blog - to meet people like YOU! Friko, you have a most wonderful way with words. I'm so happy to be part of the "merry band of bloggers."

    Congratulations on writing 500 posts!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Friko, I haven't been around as long as some, but I have very much enjoyed getting to know you and sharing ideas with you. I am envious of your ability to express yourself, your skill at writing. You have enriched my life and I wish you a long and happy future! Jim

    ReplyDelete
  22. Nice poem, sums up a lot of what blogging is all about.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Now that is QUITE a milestone. Congrats, and yes, indeed, isn't it grand to be part of this merry little worldwide band?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Super photo to complement your words.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Friko...wow, 500 posts! Bravo and congratulations to you, and let me say how lucky I feel to have been able to "only connect" with you through your splendid writing, wide range of interests and very wise observations of the world in which we do live...that world where we do put both feet on the world, and that world where we click a button, too.

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  26. friko it's an honour to be able to share in the unfolding of your life and all the beautiful, sad, angry, astonishing details of it. please, keep writing!!! steven

    ReplyDelete
  27. Not so much a shadow, Friko, more like a ray of light...I have learned much from your gifted writings...

    Congratulatins on #500 - looking forward with anticipation to the next 500.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I'm a little fuzzy on how I first came to visit your blog, but I think it was curiosity based on a comment you left on a poem of Dave King's. I do, however, remember that first visit very well, and I can't say that about a lot of the blogs I follow. You demonstrate that blogging can be an art and I'm glad you're around.

    ReplyDelete
  29. '...we send our shadows out into the world' I loved that.
    I'm very glad to have found you on the WWW, Friko. I enjoy reading what you have to say, and the way in which you say it. Here's to 500 more posts!

    ReplyDelete
  30. How wonderful to be part of your present universe. Congratulations for 500 posts! Marvelous...

    ReplyDelete
  31. 500! good job! and good to be here and a part of it.

    ReplyDelete
  32. And in return for all you have given us, I say "We few, we happy few, we band of bloggers" who have gathered here on this 500 day. In this day we shall remember the gifts you gave to us so freely Friko.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I've not been around for the entire 500, but I have thoroughly enjoyed each post of yours I have read. Always you cause me to think, to feel, and to know gratefulness that I have found your blog and that you have found mine.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Congratulations, Friko! Your blog posts are always worth reading. Here's to many more!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Our shadows touch
    And nod
    And blend
    And part
    Like smoke
    In Etherworld.

    Namaste, Friko,
    You make my world a whole lot brighter.

    XO
    WWW

    ReplyDelete
  36. 500 posts! What an achievement – and 500 worthy posts at that. All your posts are creative, well written and a joy to read. I am so pleased you found my blog in the spring of 2009, was it? So that in turn I could find your terrific blog. So many of the feelings you share – I share them too – I feel like you are more than a blog friend, you are a blog sister – the sister I wish I had. Congratulations and I hope you will celebrate with a sip of some worthy brew.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I just recently found your blog and your candor. A good find for me!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Congratulations on 500! A number I couldn't even imagine...yet. Smiles. The honor has been mine in getting to know and enjoy your wonderful wit, your benevolence, your joy. And of course, your example of how to truly have a successful experience here. Thank you for being here. I look forward to continuing to read your posts for another 500.

    ReplyDelete
  39. yay! that is awesome friko...i hope to see the next 500 honestly...i enjoy my pit stops in your part of the world...

    ReplyDelete
  40. Stunning, isn't it? We're redesigning community. Cheers to you.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Congratulations! (I've still got 207 to go...)

    ReplyDelete
  42. Congrats on 500 posts - the blogging community is something special isn't it. Jo

    ReplyDelete
  43. A big congratulations. I missed this milestone on my blog, I just checked and the counter is above 500 already.

    Greetings,
    Filip

    ReplyDelete
  44. I enjoy and admire you and your work here, your persona, your garden, your countryside, and your good and honest approach to this blog life. Truly.

    Congratulations, and here's to the next 500!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Beautifully said. I am so very glad to have met you and to know you.

    ReplyDelete
  46. well done Friko,you did a great job.keep visiting my blog its an honor for me

    ReplyDelete
  47. Congratulations on 500 posts, Friko. Yours is a truly wonderful blog. I'm so glad I found it.

    ReplyDelete
  48. schön ist dieses Post, ganz berührend. Auch ich gratuliere sehr herzlich!
    Renée

    ReplyDelete
  49. This is so perfect, my beloved Friko. I am profoundly grateful that we have crossed 'paths.' I shall be answering your excellent email, shortly, and am so very happy that things are calming down around your homestead.

    With love, care and admiration,
    -Your friend, Suze

    To 500!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Congratulations Friko- here's to 500 more!

    ReplyDelete
  51. Congratulations! 500 posts is so much! Enjoy blogging and we are looking forward to your another 500th (1000th this time) post celebration!

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  52. Congratulations and a glass raised to your next 500.

    Remember that rather twee phrase (so over used by manufacturers of homesy tea towels and greetings cards): 'a friend is a stranger you have yet to meet'?

    I often think blog-world is a little like that - the lives of strangers touching and finding we are much the same under the skin.

    Best wishes. Write on.

    ReplyDelete
  53. WOW Friko, 500 post and each one is as refreshing as the first. Looking forward to at least 500 more.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Dear Friko, Congratulations on the 500 postings that have touched your readers around the world. You have shared laughter, hope, sorrow, reflection, learning, history, philosophy, health, bemusement, and so much more with u.

    This posting today sums up so succinctly and sincerely why you, surely one of the best bloggers in our ethernet universe, blogs.

    I am going to send your blog URL to a woman who is presently teaching a class on blogging. I think she will rejoice to have your words to share with her students.

    Thank you for your posting today and also for the comments you've posted in the past weeks on my blog. I always feel a frisson of delighted expectation when I see your name.

    Peace and long may you blog!

    ReplyDelete
  55. I have no reasonable answer to your question other than senility and that "I can do" spirit that I should have shelved years ago. It is an old tube TV that belongs to my son. I am pretty guaranteed he will never use it again, as the technology is flying by.

    ReplyDelete
  56. You put me to shame. Such a prodigious writer you are - and never the same thing twice. Unlike some blogs, yours is full of variety and that really is half of the appeal. Well, maybe 40%. The greater draw is the quality of your writing and your pretty unique (occasionally snarky) perspective on people, dogs, gardens, country living, orchestral musicians...well, you name it. And you know which Deborah this is, don't you...
    Congratulations. Really. I am jellie.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Thank you for the much joy for the sense of thought, visiting your world. Concratulations !

    ReplyDelete
  58. Your photo is perfect for your message about making a mark on the world around you. Thanks--and many more!

    ReplyDelete
  59. I've missed a few lately...(busy, busy couple of weeks). But I always love stopping by and seeing what you have written. Always interesting! Congratulations on 500! Fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  60. Wow, 500!!! But as a relatively recent follower - I've only seen the last 25 or so posts - I'm SO looking forward to the next 500!!

    ReplyDelete
  61. Congratulations !! and all the best for the next 500 posts !
    Today I arrived at 1660 !

    ReplyDelete
  62. A merry band of bloggers.

    I love the way you express yourself. I'm truly glad to be touched by your shadow!

    ReplyDelete
  63. Oh..this is so beautiful. And - you cast such a beautiful shadow. So wide..so wise..so vast. Keep on doing what you do!

    ReplyDelete
  64. Beautiful. Touching. Simply stated profound truth.

    Congratulations.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Well done Friko of the wonderful words!

    Would you like to plant an acorn, sapling or mighty fir in my experimental tree plantation? I've posted a test linky-thing on the most recent Sunday Tree, and would be honoured if you'd like to contribute.

    Best wishes, Isabel

    ReplyDelete
  66. Adding, belatedly, my thanks for all the writing you do - you've amused and amazed me. Reading here is like chatting with an old friend, even though we've never met. Please keep writing, at least 500 more!

    ReplyDelete
  67. A big congrats on 500 posts. We're all the better for your blog. Even those of us who are really tardy at getting around to visit. Keep on posting. Nobody's voice is quite like yours.

    ReplyDelete
  68. And every one is special. Congratulations

    ReplyDelete

Comments are good, I like to know what you think of my posts. I know you'll keep it civil.