5,000 Posts!

The earliest header we can find is from 2010, so we are posting that.  Why?  Because this is about beginnings.

THE MEWS:  The Blogger Dashboard tells us this is our 5,000th post!  We trust it of course, because eleventy is about as far as we can imagine.  And because of that we turn this over ta TBT.  He can count that high, we think...

TBT HERE:  OK, thanks guys...  Well, this has sure been an adventure.  And don't worry, it isn't over yet.    I remember before I started.  I read Max's blog for 2 years starting 2004 then a couple others.  I found the idea of cats blogging amazing.  I never would have thought of the idea myself.  I'm creative, but not inventive.  Sort of a Beta.

One day, on one of the blogs, I saw a button that read "free blog".  I checked it out.  And I mean I REALLY checked it out.  "Free" is suspicious after all.  But it did seem legit and actually free, so I gave it a try. In August 2006.

I was COMPLETELY confused at first.  But I had learned Basic, Fortran, and Cobol in college.  I taught myself spreadsheets and databases, so how hard could it be?  Yeah right.  Took me days to get a post up and more to add a picture.  But I managed it.  And even then, the part about "comments" escaped me at first.  

I "think" I got an email about allowing comments from someone.  Sure enough, I found that part.  And got some.  The first was from The Meezers.  And I was so inexperienced, I first tried to reply with a comment on my own blog.  You can even see that HERE:  I thought it was sort of like email.  But I figured that out soon enough.

After that learning curve, I started commenting on other blogs and other cat-bloggers visited US!  I look at the earliest posts and cringe.  Skeeter and LC didn't know basic stuff like doors and fences.  Well, "they learned".  And I learned how to post pictures eventually.

And that didn't work well at the start.  I struggled hard to put text "next to" pictures and that drove me crazy.  Everything kept moving around.  Then I saw that some bloggers put text over or below the pictures.  That was great!  It meant the pictures could be larger and the text didn't go all weird.

There was a time when I couldn't think of anything to write.  I wasn't very used to taking pictures of the cats every day and pictures sure make writing about them a lot easier.  Duh, keep the camera in your pocket...  That helped a lot.  

So I got into a habit of writing a post every few days.  I enjoy writing.  I would rather sit and write instead of passively watching TV.  And then I discovered the idea of "theme days".  Cool, Monday wasn't just Monday, it was "Mancat Monday", etc.  Organized the writing.

And there were phrases I learned.  Canned food was "Stinky Goodness".  Sunday was "Easy Like Sunday" for togetherness.  The Mews watching birds at the feeders was "Birdie TV".  

I think I invented "MOL".  I can't prove it and don't worry about it much.  But when I started posting, other cats were saying "LOL".  And one day early-on, I thought "no it should be Meowing Out Loud" and used MOL.  I was asked what that meant and explained.  I saw it catch on.  A few months later dog-blogs were using "BOL" which I assume is obvious.

Some bloggers have had more and lost more cats than I.  I've seen the sadness.  I respond, and always with tears streaming down my face.  A lost cat-companion always means dozens of tissues to dry my eyes as I struggle to type a reply.  Every cat who goes Over The Bridge is to them as Skeeter was to me. And sometimes I re-read the condolences on his departure from my life and the tears come again.  We all have holes in our hearts for the departed ones.  

And I have seen famous cats come and go now.  There are downsides to cat-blogging for almost 15 years.  Old friends leave our world.  Sammy and Miles Meezer, Eric and Flynn, and lately Max and Spitty come quickly to mind, but there are so many others.  I cried for them all.

And some just seem to vanish.  My feedly list has some who haven't posted for years.  I keep them in case they return but I know it isn't likely they will.  Still, "just in case" is OK; it's not like it costs money to leave them there.

So, today is 5,000 posts.  I'm both thrilled at the number and uncertain about the meaning.  In one sense it is just a number.  In another sense we Beins consider big round numbers to have meaning.  So that way, it means a lot.  

I never in my wildest dreams when I started cat-blogging had ever considered such as number.  I was amazed at the 100th and 1,000th posts.

And it isn't like I had a goal or anything.  I post when I have a picture or a thought to work with.  Some years I posted only a few per month.  And lately, I had problems taking pictures (solved that).  But here I am at 5,000.  Feels weird...

Part of what I am getting at is that I wouldn't be posting if "you" weren't reading them.  I continue from a desire to write about The Mews, but if no one was reading, I would probably spend my time on my Cavebear blog, discussion boards and strategic computer games.  I get returns from them too, but I value Mark's Mews more.  Thank you all for each and every comment or read.

So here are pictures from the start, and some of the newest.  Old is good, but time moves on.

Skeeter and Ayla...

LC...

Ayla climbing down the ladder...

Ayla and Iza together...

Ayla WAY up high...

Napping close...

Marley even got up high.

They all got along waiting to get out,

Now it is Ayla, Marley, and Laz...

Laz loves Marley; his Big Brofur.

They wrassle peacefully...

Some good days, all of them nap together.

More wrassling.  Laz always starts it.

I love Princess Ayla.  Sweet cat of my days.  It is good that she stays near me more lately.

And they nap together...

I have to say that perhaps I have been unbelievably lucky with cats getting along so well.  I mean, I used to post about Ayla and Iza not getting along "purrfectly" but that was because they did really get along together and was the surprise days I mentioned.

And yes, Laz was an actual struggle.  I never blamed him, he had a hard early life.  But since about his Gotcha Day, he has really calmed down.  Getting outside has been good for him.  And him probably realizing that when he comes in, he can go out again, has made a difference, I think.  

And with Laz being calmer, Ayla feels freer to move around in the house.  That matters to me.  I love having her on the back of my TV chair and she is on my lap, purring, so much more often.  I enjoy her apparently increased relaxation and happiness.  

I would never say I had a "favorite cat" among The Mews anymore than a Mother would admit to having a favorite child.  The Mews are all different and I love them all.  But when Ayla is happy, it sure means a lot to me.  

Marley is ALWAYS a pretty happy cat, so that is good.  In fact, he may be about the happiest cat I've ever had.  It would be hard to decide "happiest" between Marley and Iza, though.  They were both about as happy as I can imagine cats being.  

Marley loves the outside, and Iza loved her "warmy mats" but both loved being on my lap and sometimes got a little fussed about it, but Marley was a good Brofur and declined to contend.  Now that Iza has gone, he goes for my lap anytime I make one.  I sure miss Iza a lot, but Marley does is best

And Ayla has become more of a lap cat than before.  I cherish their attention and love of being near me. I know some people are not that lucky with theirs or some individual one.

And as I have said, Laz is not a lapcat.  But he demands to spend the night pressed up against me.  Why he wants to spent the night in contact but not while I'm sitting in a chair is beyond my current understanding, but I bet that changes in a year.

I'm surely a lucky cat-guy!

BTW, I went nuts with the "5,000" label for 2 days.  It was The Comma!