5002 and Counting Backwards

I went to bed last night and my Sitemeter was floating at 4996. I had a restless sleep wondering who my 5,000th visitor would be. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this number all week.

4997 There was a late-night visit from my West Texas friend, Cowtown Pattie. She’s ornery, but that’s a compliment. She writes great stories, which I greatly enjoy.

4998 Heather, at Blog-Blah-Blah stopped in around midnight. Hey, shouldn’t you be in bed at that time, young lady? She’s a West Texas nurse and was probably working the graveyard shift or something. I especially like her blog, because she takes great pains and great pride in how she writes: good grammar, good spelling; good editing. Not only that, but she writes really interesting things.

4999 Early this morning, when he should have been out feeding the chickens, Cliff Morrow stopped by to see if I had posted anything new. No, not yet—I’m looking for 5,000. “Oh, please, please, please be there…” Cliff Morrow is as low-key as they come. It only takes a few visits to his site to realize you’ve found a hard-working, encouraging man—and family—of integrity, grace and class. I don’t remember how I ran across his blog, but I’m sure glad I did. He has a short blogroll; all people like himself. (Not counting me.)

Only one more to go. I breathlessly checked before I went to work. “Shucks!”

I checked again as soon as I got to work. “Hey, where is everybody? It’s still 4999.”

5000 “Alright!” It’s…it’s…Google Search? You’re kidding. Somebody was searching for “Have you hugged your kids today…” See top of my page. Watch shoulders slump. Okay, that one doesn’t count.

5001 Not again! Watch shoulders slump again. It’s the same person looking for “Have you hugged your kids today…” Only via search.msn. That one doesn’t count, either. Grrr!

5002 Yee-haw! It’s SRP, whom I have really come to enjoy.

SRP is my 5,000th visitor since last December. She posts photos almost every day. This delightful beauty knows how to use a camera, and I know good work when I see it. She's also just an all-around nice person. Surely she must be everybody's friend.

I’m going to paste a sticker on her blog that says, “Honorary Citizen. Pancake Flats, KS.” That’s the best prize I can offer.

Historical update: Although I have another blog and have been blogging for almost two years, I’ve made all my blogging friends on Writing From The Hip. Thanks to all who come by regularly. Thanks to all who come by occasionally. Reading your kind comments is habit-forming. And it's a good habit.

This has been a great ye…hey, wait. You wanna see some pictures of my grandkids?