Most of the people I follow have quite different blogs falling into various different categories. Some, like YP or Cro, make no bones about their political leanings but leave everyone to get on with their own views whilst having an occasional spat and then getting on with life. Some avoid politics altogether . Some, like David, concentrate largely on one topic (in this case birds). Some like Tasker can blog on anything and, heaven alone knows what Bob will blog on next. Monica and Meike and the New Zealand blogs that I follow all eschew controversy. Adrian is Adrian. He and I have agreed to disagree about many things for about 15 years and we're unlike to change now. As most of his blog is devoted to stuff which is stratospherically beyond my ken that's rarely an issue.
So, in a nutshell, my Blogland is a tolerant one. It is going to stay that way. I, too, am going to stay that way. I have learned my lesson in entering into a discussion with someone on that person's blog in the full knowledge that there is only one point of view allowed on the blog - that bloggers. I'll stay in my usual Blogland. After all, for me, blogging is about enjoying comfortable companionship.
Oddly yesterday the above Peanuts appeared on my Facebook page. It must have been serendipity.
I've just looked out of the kitchen window to see a couple of hooded crows seeing off a sparrowhawk. There isn't much that will take on a corvidae: even eagles beat a retreat when sense tells them to.
Blogging is a wonderful way to expand one's horizons and make new friends, virtual and real. I don't mind controversy, as long as it is civil. One may disagree yet respect the other (mostly) and my opponent is not always my enemy. I draw the line at rabid anti-vaxxers and their ilk, and right-wing religious zealots. With those I want no truck. Thanks for closing your post with hawks and crows. Now I really know you are a good chap!
ReplyDeleteThanks, David. I'd blog a lot more about birds if I had enough to blog about. There are plenty of birds on the Islands overall but, even on my walks, outside of corvidae (guaranteed), herons and, of course gulls, the numbers of other birds are not as visible as one would like. I live in a village named after the eagles that used to nest on the surrounding cliffs. In the 30 years I've lived in this house I have seen one eagle. Having said that it was only 10 metres or so away from me at the time.
DeleteMy blog is indeed pretty much non-controversial; to some, that may be boring, to me, it is a peaceful place that helps me to stay mentally balanced in a very unbalanced world.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog and our friendship and very much hope you won‘t stop blogging anytime soon.
As for corvidae v. birds of prey - O.K. often observe such encounters during our walks and hikes, and although we know that is the way it is, it keeps leaving us amazed at both the apparent courage of the smaller birds and the almost non-existing self defense of the larger ones.
Thanks, Meike. Your blog is never boring and I can live the walks I cannot do in places I cannot go (any longer) vicariously through your descriptions and photos. Your walks are in places where you probably see far more raptors than I do which is wonderful. I hardly see any birds (other than as I mentioned in my previous comment) in the Castle Grounds although they are there hiding away in the woods.
DeleteThank you for the mention, but I too tend to avoid politics. I've found to the detriment of my emotional equilibrium it's best avoided. Not that I don't sometimes comment, but probably shouldn't.
ReplyDeleteTasker, I'm a relative newcomer to your blog but it's always a great place to go for variety and interest.
DeleteI enjoy your blog, Graham, for the same reasons that you quote above for others. Yours is an enjoyable insight into a calmer, saner, and usually peaceful life. I try as much as possible to avoid controversy . It just makes me feel anxious so my blog is pretty mundane and is probably much too boring for some people.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to crows, we stopped to watch two of them mobbing a sparrowhawk in a large tree just along the road last week. There was much loud screeching before the sparrowhawk eventually took off and flapped slowly over the rooftops.
Thak you, JayCee. Your blog is a calm place and I love that. Sometimes just following what a person does in their life when it is different to one's own makes for good reading. I, too, like calm. I've never understood how the sparrowhawk, which can fly at very quickly, always leaves the corvidae at a more leisurely pace as if it's just proving a point.
DeleteGood blogpost - reminding us that Blogland should be a nice place to visit. Very occasionally I do tend to vent thoughts and feelings about current affairs in the wider world and I expect I will unashamedly keep doing that. After all, that's me. But mostly I blog about more ordinary things - walks in the countryside, books I have read, things I have seen, family life, art, memories etc.. If somebody does not like my blog or what I say, they can vote with their feet and simply stay away from it. That's what I do.
ReplyDeleteYP, you and I have had the occasional spat over things we probably thought were important at the time but, like friends used to in the snug over a pint the disagreements were just part of the relationship.
DeleteThat reminds me Graham, it's your round mate!
DeleteI am a commenter and not a blogger and I enjoy your blog. I have quite a list of bloggers that I visit whenever they have a new post. I enjoy hearing about others' lives and seeing interesting places I will never get to see in person. It is like having penpals around the world that I can communicate with and often I feel a friendly connection to the bloggers I read!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you enjoy my blog, Ellen. I certainly feel and enjoy the connection with those who communicate with me through my blog.
DeleteI love to read blogs, I find them fascinating. And I find it so amazing to be able to 'chat' to people from all over the world about their lives, interests and everyday happenings that bring them joy. I have always found it to be a wonderful, friendly and supportive community. X
ReplyDeleteI think, Jules, your blog showers forth interest and kindness and therefore it elicits the same responses.
DeleteAs I've mentioned before, I check your blog every morning with my first cup of coffee to see if you've posted. Some blogs are interesting, and some others, like yours, are way more than interesting. I have a vivid imagination and I'm easily transported to spend time with you. I hope you blog on for a long time to come.
ReplyDeleteJill, as one of my longest term and most loyal Blogland friends I really value and enjoy your support. I just wish we were nearer and could meet for coffee and do a crossword as I do with CJ and my Best Pal.
DeleteThere is much wisdom in that Peanuts quote :) There are of course times when one may feel obliged to stand up for something or somebody, but in general I do try to stay away from heated and hostile discussions that I feel are leading nowhere - especially with strangers online. I still feel I've learned (and keep learning) a lot about other people and cultures and countries and different points of view etc through blogging, though.
ReplyDeleteFrom my point of view, Monica, the Peanuts quote seems to be saying that if we want to respond 'strongly' to something that's something we have to decide and our strength lies in taking that decision and how wisely we do it.
DeleteI hope to be fortunate enough to be able to read your blog for a long time. Finding wonderful blogs several years ago has probably been the best thing to happen for me having moved, and living in an area without friends or family nearby. I also dislike heated discussions/stubborn statements. I no longer travel and having the opportunity to read bloggers in other countries has been particularly enjoyable. I can't say enough about how much I love seeing some of the beautiful photography or learning about bloggers' pets, new books, recommendations for music or movies......so much.
ReplyDeleteRegina, I think that's a way of treating blogs that makes the most of one's efforts. I'm fortunate to live in a community I've been in for nearly half a century but as more and more of those friends of my age drop off this mortal coil, the more the friends in Blogland matter.
DeleteGraham, like Pat at Weaver of Grass, you are highly respected in Blogland and much loved.
DeleteAs it is out here in the "real world", one can choose one's friends...similar applies, in my opinion, to the world of blogging.
ReplyDeleteTime is far too precious to waste on pointless arguments, nastiness, sarcasm, rudeness etc., via blogging. Time wasted...words wasted. As dear little Thumper's Mum said..."If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all!"
Take good care, Graham. :)
As always, Lee, you speak wisely and use your inordinate memory for quotes.
DeleteLife's too short to spend it arguing, especially in blogland. The bloggers I follow are invariably cheerful, informative or offer an insight into life that is different to mine. If there's hunour, that is a bonus. Yours fits all three categories so is top of my favourites list. I find myself growing strong political views which I try to keep to myself, not always successfully in real life but I never argue about them.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pauline, for your kind words. I never expressed any political views whatsoever (even to my wife) whilst I worked with politicians. That way both sides of the divide trusted my advice (without, of course, always agreeing with it!). It's interesting but I've been told because of my accent most people thought I leaned rather to the right whereas in reality I've always been slightly to the left of centre. I am, in essence, though a centrist trying to cull the best from both.
DeleteYou run a pleasant blog which is positive and supportive of people. I have made the odd political comment and only one time received a nasty comment. Others have likely just ignored me.
ReplyDeleteThank you Red. You are a gentleman on your blog and few people find it easy to make nasty comments to gentlemen.
DeleteThere have been just a very small handful of times someone has challenged me on my blog but it has always been respectful and, I suspect genuinely interested. I'm happy enough with those kinds of discussions.
ReplyDeleteDo you ever wonder what people are not saying? I do
Blogging has been a wonderful thing for me over a long time, both a creative outlet and a social club. I blog more or less depending on what else is going on but I can't imagine stopping completely
Kylie, I can relate tou your comment absolutely except that for me it's rarely been a creative outlet but I'd like to make it more that way.
DeleteMy political leanings do get me into deep water occasionally, but my sense of right and wrong sometimes overcomes me. I try to steer clear these days, but now and then I can't hold back.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, Cro, you always seem to control the spats on your blog with considerable ability.
DeleteWell said Graham. Like you, I keep my blog fairly non-confrontational.
ReplyDeleteNot publishing some of the things I think does not mean I don't think them, don't care, don't sometimes have opinions which differ from those of the masses, but I'm now old enough to have learnt which fights to pick and which ones not to engage with.
Thank you, Jayne. Your last sentence is the whole lesson in surviving and achieving anything in the world we live in at the moment. It probably always was!
DeleteI'm of similar view to you with blogging. i find it much more positive to social media these days and it allows me to view different places around the world, the new friends I've made are even more valuable.
ReplyDeleteAmy, and there's no adverts!
DeleteI am damned with faint praise (it was praise, right?). I do need to tell you that although your link to Tasker takes one to Tasker, your supposed link to me takes one back to your own blog. Fix that, would ya? Thanks awfully.
ReplyDeleteBob, I certainly didn't mean that to sound like damning with faint praise. I'm obviously losing my linguistic ability. It was meant to be a genuine compliment just using language that didn't just repeat old mundane phrases. Mind you this post was partly brought about by a statement I made on a post which the person who wrote the post subsequently deleted and said she assumed I'd made them because I'd been drinking. As the last time I had too much to drink was when I was 17 I can only assume that I'm no longer the wordsmith I thought that I was. I have fixed the link. Many apologies.
DeleteOf course you are the wordsmith you thought you were. Don't be silly. It was just a phrase I chose. I might just as well have said "left-handed compliment"....not to worry. I am probably rather more plain-spoken than you, "open mouth, insert" foot sort of thing with me usually. I was born with a silver foot in my mouth. In fact, some days the only time I open my mouth is to exchange feet.
DeleteCorrection: "open mouth, insert" foot should have been "open mouth, insert foot"
DeleteI try to be accurate even when it's irritating.
Bob, I do enjoy your comments (and posts) the make me think and exercise what passes for my mind. Prince Phillip it was, I believe, who coined the term orthopedology for the art of opening one's mouth and putting one's foot in it. I believe that we are all guilty occasionally but at least it is rarely a malicious condition.
DeleteThere's only one word that sums up this post, GB..... AMEN.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marcheline.
Delete