Summit to Shore Turns Four

There seems to be some debate about the average lifespan of a blog.  I have seen numbers as low as a few weeks and as high as two to three years.  Summit to Shore has apparently beaten the odds.  It turns four years old today! I started Summit to Shore, and blogging, on January 5, 2009. With a post entitled Ex-Nihlio, I entered the blogosphere.

Looking back  over the past four years, I think I started blogging for several reasons.  First and foremost, I wanted to learn about blogs and how to blog, as well as to learn more about social media.  In other words, I wanted to keep up with the times and I believe that the best way to learn is to do. 

Yes, I read a couple of books and on line articles about blogging but I more or less just jumped into the blogosphere without much preparation. I have learned a lot along the way.  In good Socratic fashion, however, I have also learned that when it comes to blogging and social media there is a lot I do not know.  It sometimes seems that social media is changing so fast one must be working in it full time to keep up with it. I use social media in my profession, but social media is not my profession, just part of it, one tool in my professional toolbox.  I therefore sometimes find it difficult to keep up with all the trends and changes.  Nevertheless, I try.

I also entered the blogosphere because I felt like I had something to say – not that anyone would want read what I wrote.  I may not be the world’s best writer, but I like to write.  I sometimes feel like there are words and ideas within me that I have to write down, or else I will burst.  Blogging offers me an outlet for some of my creative energies.  It also provides me a forum for some of my ideas and opinions.

I have sailed against the wind by not blogging about one particular topic.  Summit to Shore is certainly an eclectic blog, covering everything between, well, summit to shore.  In the beginning I had intended to be eclectic, but to write more about mountains and summits than I have.

When I lived in West Virginia, I spent a lot of my free time hiking and backpacking.  I often hiked two to four days a month, covering 8-16 miles a day hiking in some rough mountainous terrain at high altitude, at least by eastern standards.  After moving to New York City five and a half years ago, I thought I would spentd a lot more time climbing and hiking in the Gunks, Catskill’s and Adirondacks, but the reality of traffic and tolls soon altered my ideas.  It takes me at least an hour and a half and over $10 in tolls just to drive up to the Gunks for a day of hiking or climbing, and finding climbing partners whose skills and experience were compatible with mine was not always easy.

I can drive from my home to Jamaica Bay in half an hour and pay no tolls.  With a sit-on-top kayak kept on Jamaica Bay at the Sebago Canoe Club, where I can almost always find someone to paddle with,  I quickly found myself drawn more to the shore than the summit.  Two and a half years ago my wife and I took sailing lessons and  I bought a used C&C 24 sailboat, which I also keep on Jamaica Bay. This past summer we sailed on average probably one day a week.  A year ago I acquired a Necky Chatham 17 traditional kayak which I also keep on Jamaica Bay at the Sebago Canoe Club.  Is there any wonder, then, why I have ended up posting more about sailing and kayaking than hiking and climbing?  I also often cross post many of my kayaking related posts to the Sebago Canoe Club Blog,

Almost three years ago I took on the “Lectionary Ruminations” Column on Presbyterian Bloggers and soon started cross posting “Lectionary Ruminations” to my blog as well.  While between 25-45 people read my “Lectionary Ruminations” post every weak on Presbyterian Bloggers,  I will soon complete the three year lectionary cycle and will no longer post on Presbyterian Bloggers, which seems to have outlived its lifespan.  It has been six months since anyone else has posted to Presbyterian Bloggers, so I plan to update, expand, and edit my previous “Lectionary Ruminations” postings and continue posting them exclusively on Summit to Shore.

For the first two and three quarter years of Summit to Shore, I was working less than full time and had free time to write.  For the past sixteen months I have been working two half-time jobs, or the equivalent of a full time job, and have not had as much free time.  Therefore I post less than I used to, devoting most of my creative energies to “Lectionary Ruminations” with an occasional post about sailing, kayaking, politics, culture, or anything else between summit to shore..

Glancing at my BLOG ARCHIVE suggests that I started blogging like a sprinter and over the past four years have slowed down to a reduced but more manageable pace.  Here are the numbers.

2009    213 posts
2010    161 posts
2011    90 posts
2012    70 posts

According to All Time Stats, as of 10:40 AM this morning, there have been 53,598 pageviews and I have made 535 posts, with eighteen followers (THANKS ONE AND ALL). These have been the most popular posts.

We Sailed, posted August 27, 2012, has received 659 pageviews, nearly twice as many as the next most viewed post.

PC(USA) GA Vice Mod Visits NYC Presbytery at the God Box, posted October 8, 2009 , has received 346 pageviews.

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, December 4, 2011, the SecondSunday of Advent (Year B), posted December 1, 2011, has received 339 pageviews.

A Prayer for Newtown, posted December 17, 2012, has received 339 pageviews.

Lectionary Ruminations for Sunday, February 26, 2012, the FirstSunday in Lent (Year B), posted February 23, 2012, has received 319 pageviews.

Stuck, posted June 15, 2010, has received 317 pageviews.

At least one post from each year made it into the top six.  Three of the top six posts, however, are from the most recent year.  I suspect "We Sailed," "A Prayer for Newtown," and "Stuck" will continue receiving additional pageviews and that "A Prayer for Newtown" will eventually rise to second place while "Stuck" will eventually rise to third.

Happy Birthday, Summit to Shore, and may your best years be ahead of you.

And on Another Blog . . . Lectionary Ruminations

Every Thursday, for the past twenty-six weeks, I have been posting Lectionary Ruminations, on the PRESBYTERIAN BLOGGERS blog.

Lectionary Ruminations is a Socratic reflection on the Lectionary Readings for the following Sunday.

Click on the first hot link to read the post. Click on the second hot link to explore the blog in general.

219th GA: Post Assembly Reflections

After packing up the PVJ Booth in GA Exhibit Hall Thursday evening, we got our first full night’s sleep in three nights. When we woke up Thursday morning, we started packing our own belongings and checked out of our room by 10:30 AM. With luggage in tow, a three block walk took us to the Government Plaza station on the light rail line. From there we rode the train to the Minneapolis airport were we boarded our AirTran flight for New York City’s LaGuardia Airport. (photo right)

While waiting in the Minneapolis airport and during a layover in Milwaukie, we watched the GA plenary via live streaming on my wife’s smart phone. Once we arrived home we watched on the screen of my laptop. We might have physically left Minneapolis but we had not spiritually left the Assembly, and the work of the Assembly went on, not scheduled to adjourn until Saturday morning.

I registered for the GA as both an Exhibitor (Presbyterian Voices for Justice) as well as an Observer. Although I opted not to register as Press, I went to the GA intending to blog about my experiences, and blog I did, 26 posts to date. I found that the more activities, events, and special meals I attended, the less time I had to blog. And the more I blogged, the less time I had to meander through the Exhibit Hall and visit with friends and colleagues. The key, for me, was finding a happy medium. If nothing else, attending the GA as an Exhibitor/Observer while trying to blog about the experience increased my respect for reporters and other journalists at the General Assembly and the work they do. Writing is hard work and takes time, if done well. Kudos to the Presbyterian News Service. Some in the secular press could use a brief introduction to Presbyterian polity and termimnology.

Since I am not a professional reporter or journalist I did not feel bound by the professional ethic of maintaining objectivity. It was not my intent to offer a fair, balanced, and objective viewpoint. I care about what happened at the General Assembly. I went to the GA with invested loyalties and interests as well as with passions and commitments and I wanted some of those passions and commitments to shine through in my posts.

Many others set out to blog about the GA, some who were there and some who were not. I encourage readers of Summit to Shore to peruse a few other blogs for a wider view. My friend and College in Ministry over at Raxweblog offers theologically informed reflections of his week at GA that go deeper and offer more analysis than my own, but he does not have pictures. For a view of GA through the eyes of a Young Adult Advisory Delegate (YAAD), take a look at Liz goes to GA. For a view through the eyes of a first time Elder Commissioner, visit Leaning Downstreams. John Vest was a Minsiter Commissioner to the GA and offers reflections his blog.  Minister Observer David Ensign offers his reflections at Faithful Agitation. Another friend and college who was not at GA but followed it closely and commented from afar blogs at Shuck and Jive.  And finally, THE GA JUNKIE offers substantial analysis, some of it statistical with graphs (but no pictures).

Migration

Like a bird flying south for winter, which is a direction I would really like to head right now considering we have close to a foot of snow on the ground here in New York City, I am migrating, one day a week, over to Presbyterian Bloggers, where I will be posting Lectionary Ruminations every Thursday. This means I probably will not be posting very often on Thursdays to Summit to Shore.

I also occasionally post, and cross post, to the Sebago Canoe Club blog, but not habitually. Thus, Lectionary Ruminations on Presbyterian Bloggers is my first regularly scheduled blog column on a blog other than my own.

Wish me luck.