One more blogosphere note

The cards arrived yesterday. Yesterday. They are gorgeous. Bennie and Ben and the Waddell Family, Merry Christmas.


Then I realized I had forgotten to order reprints of my Ben's great school picture, and that studio wants at least two weeks lead time. Plan B--my local UPS ship store will do color copies for 39 cents. So, I'll add Ben's picture to a brief Christmas letter, have copies printed and enclose them in the Wonderful Waddell cards.

Speaking of warm Christmas feelings, there's a reader that leaves me smiling everytime I check my sitemeter report. I see that she (or he) checks in just about everyday. That site meter report is like a Greek chorus that chants, "Write something new, keep them reading, keep writing, they'll keep reading." I don't know who it is. I don't know anyone who lives there. But that little dot on the map tells me that someone is reading, getting to know me, looking into my life through these musings. It's a wonderful, weird sort of feeling, like when George meets the angel on the bridge. OK, not quite that dramatic, but it's knowing that someone is reading--a stranger--not my mom, my friends, who check in because they love me and Ben, but someone who actually found something here that resonates with them. It's wonderful.

That loyal reader is located 772 miles from here. I get hits from all over, Malaysia, London, Florida, Colombia, France. Not many of them come back. I know all my other regulars because they left me a comment, or I checked out their blogs, left them a comment and they responded. There's a part of me that loves the mystery of not knowing who it is who checks in. There's the other part of me who is simply dying to know, who are you?

Who are you right smack in the middle of the heartland of this country?

If you'd prefer to remain anonymous, I can understand that. It's just that we've been on the same train now for a while, and I'm curious. I moderate the comments, and you could leave one and ask me not to publish it, and I'll honor that. It could be our little secret. I'm a lawyer, I've been keeping people's secrets all my adult life.

Or, maybe you won't tell me, and that's OK too, tis the season for mystery and marveling at the wonderful gifts in our lives.

Thanks for reading, all of you, known and unknown.