What Do You Think?

I am always amazed at the countries my readers represent, and how they tend to show up in groups. Right now, I'm getting a lot of visitors from the beautiful country of Ireland. For a while, it was Germany, and before then, Russia.

I should keep a list of the countries my readers call home. Most readers are from the U.S., but my blog has had visitors from France, Ukraine, Turkey, Gibraltar, Mexico, Romania, Canada, the Netherlands, Brazil, Australia, France, Moldova, Spain, Portugal, Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Kenya, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia. I am always curious about what brings readers to my blog posts.

I get few comments, but it would be nice to hear from readers. Who are they? Where do they live? What do they do for a living, or for fun? Where did they hear about this blog? Are they regular readers, or do they just drop by on occasion?

Sometimes I get frustrated by the lack of response to my posts. Do people like them or hate them? Are the posts interesting, inspiring, boring or informative? I really do want to know what readers think. Has a particular post prompted you to take action, or to see something in a different light? 

I write because I love to write. It is a great way for me to share my thoughts and feelings with the world, or to blow off steam. I get great pleasure from crafting a well-written sentence, and from revising a sentence until I find just the right word to use. I have no formal training in writing or journalism, although my talent for writing was first noticed by an 8th-grade English teacher. I wrote for my middle school newspaper, and I later spent eight years as the communications director for a large California humane society, followed by some 20 years as a NASA public affairs officer, writing primarily news releases according to a specific set of criteria. 

Now I write for fun. I know that may sound strange, as many people struggle with writing, but it has always come easily to me. Ideas for my blog come from a variety of sources -- personal experiences or observations, things I read about in the newspaper or online, my family and my travels.

Whatever the source of my ideas, I truly enjoy writing and I would love to hear from my readers.

So as we begin 2016, I wish you all a wonderful new year.

Happy New Year! ! 
С новым годом!  
Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!
¡Feliz año nuevo!
Frohes neues Jahr!
Mutlu Yıllar!
Щасливого Нового року!
Heri ya mwaka mpya!  
Bonne année!