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<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0Friends To The Core<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I’ve now been blogging for 3 years and 4 months (whoa, I had no idea it had been that long until I just now looked it up!).\u00a0 In that time I’ve published 671 posts (I started out slowly)\u00a0that have had many thousands of views and comments.\u00a0\u00a0The majority of those\u00a0comments have been made by you – my regular (and loyal)\u00a0readers.\u00a0 Lately I’ve been\u00a0 pondering about how well it seems\u00a0that I know many of you.\u00a0 In many cases I’ve become familiar with and learned to appreciate\u00a0your devotion to birds and the natural world generally, your generosity in sharing your\u00a0often extraordinary knowledge and experiences, \u00a0your\u00a0enthusiastic support\u00a0of nature photography and natural history and even your varied senses of humor (which I enjoy immensely).\u00a0 Heck, I\u00a0(we) even know some of your foibles and idiosyncrasies, as you know some of mine.\u00a0 That sounds like “friends” to me.<\/p>\n At the very top\u00a0of the list of things I appreciate is\u00a0your humaneness and decency – not only for critters but\u00a0toward all of us, too.\u00a0 When I first started blogging one of my great fears was having to deal with all of the insensitivity (that’s a kind word) that is so rampant in the blogosphere.\u00a0 I’ve had virtually none that and I’m so very grateful!\u00a0 It’s almost unheard of for me to have to delete or “not approve” a comment.\u00a0 To be sure, folks have occasionally disagreed on various topics but the discussion has always been civil and considerate –\u00a0though sometimes passionate, all as it should be when you have a point of view.\u00a0 It can be done and you have proven it so.<\/p>\n To some degree\u00a0I can even see “relationships” developing between various commenters and that’s a joy for me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n friend: A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I feel like I do know<\/em> many of you quite well and the like and trust<\/em> part has certainly been earned.\u00a0 The only thing that feels a little strange is not knowing what my friends look like but I can live with that.\u00a0 I guess\u00a0it’s not all that uncommon in this internet age.<\/p>\n So, as I do for all my friends, I’d like to\u00a0most sincerely wish each of you the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of\u00a0Holidays!\u00a0 I hope you’re all snuggled in warmly with family and loved ones for the duration or doing whatever else might be your tradition.\u00a0 And that you remain safe while you do it.<\/p>\n As for Mia and I, it’s a clear morning and there’ll be good light so we’ll likely be out with the birds when the sun comes up\u00a0(our<\/em> favorite holiday\u00a0tradition – especially since we’ll have the whole place to ourselves).\u00a0 Then we’ll have a celebratory meal\u00a0 later in the day (yes, I’m cooking a dead bird and I always feel just a little bit guilty about that…).<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m normally not one to wax sentimental. I do have those feelings of course but I don’t often express them. Not nearly as often as I should. The Christmas season gives me an excuse…<\/p>\n