It’s funny. Today is July 13th. It’s my first birthday!  Like most newborns, I didn’t have any specific expectations on life as a blogger. I didn’t worry about growing up, just existed from day today, happily scribbling away stories about the many places on mother earth I’ve been fortunate to live in or visit, the lions and gorillas I’ve had the pleasure to meet, tried some slightly humoristic pieces on life lessons, a few cooking stories, some explorations of nature and many more poems than I ever thought existed in this little newborn. I also like colorful illustrations, like most infants do, so I’ve been busy upgrading my skills in photography. Oh, and I almost forgot, I’ve also lent my laptop numerous times to my most faithful follower, Bumble the toy poodle.

It has been a fun, but not a completely smooth ride. In the cause of the past 12 months, I’ve caught all the common illnesses of early childhood. Like the urge to check the stats at least once a day and sometimes every few hours, constantly count the countries where my visitors came from, and for a while become dependent on sugar in the sweet likes. As luck would have it, I got healthy enough to survive for a full year. Much of the medicine that finally cured my baby bugs came in a bottle labeled “You’re into this for fun, as much and as long as you want to”.

So now I am a happy baby, just learning to walk and talk. Many words come out okay now and most people seem to understand what I’m saying. I already nibble in all kinds of foods, some more solid than others. But the best thing is that I am surrounded by my large and caring family. I have gradually learned to know them, distinguish the mother and father figures, aunts and uncles, grandparents, siblings, rowdy teens and the kids like me. I have to say that some of the members of my family are colorful characters. I love colors and there is so much for me to learn from all of them.

I truly love my family. All the diversity, all the skillful writers, storytellers, poets, photographers and artists all over the world. Can you imagine how many wonderful places I can visit when I get old enough to travel to see all of them? But there is one drawback. My family is not completely stable, it’s actually rather fluid. Suddenly someone disappears. They may or may not say goodbye. Sometimes a family member will tell me that they need to take a break, vacation on a beautiful island or have gotten married and will be moving on.  I will miss them, but it feels good to be able to wish them well. Sometimes they show up again, refreshed and full of energy. That’s party time, milk and cookies! A break can be a good thing.

But sometimes they just plainly disappear. Puff – they are gone. No waving goodbye or so long. In my little mind I get worried. I miss them and wonder what might have happened. But I guess such is life, growing pains included in the package. Change is the new normal, as I heard someone say. He is much wiser and older than me.

Now that I am one full year old, I look forward to my toddler years. Learning to run as a writer will be a blast! I’ll get faster everywhere. And probably hurt my knees a few times. Then, before I know it, I’ll go to kindergarten and real school – learning everything! Maybe I finally learn to focus my blog, it’s anyone’s guess. I’m also sure I’ll have my summer breaks and other vacations from blogging every now and then. Then I’ll soon become a teen, rebellious and all. Writing about controversial topics and getting hundreds of comments will be so cool.

Oh, I’m getting ahead of myself. Such a terribly wild imagination. But one thing is as sure as the feather like hair on my baby head, my evening prayer tonight will include giving thanks and asking for blessings for my family. After eating the candle. I promise I won’t forget.