Read time: 4 min.

Yesterday, WordPress notified me I’d posted nine hundred and ninety-nine times in a row. That makes today my thousandth. I’m not usually one to toot my own trombone, but tooooooooot! 

I hadn’t been tracking what I’d written, but I’m really happy to see I’ve managed a thousand straight posts. I probably spend twenty hours a week on this blog, along with some blood (thanks to a foolish attempt at unboxing a new mouse), some sweat (courtesy of a broken A/C unit a few years ago), and, yes, even some tears (mostly from stubbing my toe on my desk). Through all of it, this blog has become more than just an outlet for research and writing. Working on it is an everyday ritual, a place to chase my curiosity, and a chance to connect through our weird, mutual interests. 

I launched this thing back in September 2022 as a way to bring together content from three niche websites and a Facebook group I ran at the time. If I’m being honest, my thousandth post was back on June 1st, when I wrote about the flowing well at Trail’s End in rural Grant County. Unfortunately, a scheduling mishap during my first month meant that my first two weeks of writing didn’t count toward my current streak. I was this close to a perfect run! That early bungle still haunts me.

This blog has always been about chasing the places that tug at my curiosity, like proud old courthouses, abandoned Marsh supermarkets, trickling artesian wells, and elderly schoolhouses. I’ve visited many of East-Central Indiana’s odd and forgotten corners throughout the past thousand posts, and it’s been a lot of fun. Still, I won’t pretend it’s always been easy. I kept writing during stressful periods at work. I scheduled new posts during family struggles, and I soldiered on several times as bipolar depression took over my life. 

Through it all, I’ve kept this thing going because of one thing: curiosity. If I’m good at anything, it’s wondering, wandering, digging, and needing to know more. That, paired with a healthy dose of sheer stubbornness, has kept this blog alive. Aside from making new friends here, the real anchor has been writing. When everything else felt like it was coming apart, posting here has grounded me. Sometimes, this blog has been a lifeline.

Clicking “schedule” on a thousand substantive posts in a row is an accomplishment, but it doesn’t land me in the hall of fame with some of the relentlessly consistent blogs I look up to. Those guys make blogging look effortless, like they have an endless reserve of time, energy, and inspiration. In contrast, I’ve had to claw my way through late nights, busy weeks, and many moments of self-doubt. Listening to the YouTube channel lofi hip hop radio 📚 beats to relax/study helps as I write. So does Disco the cat, who loves to climb up and sprawl over my forearms as I type away.

A thousand daily posts in a row is hard to believe, but here we are. I’m glad to have thrown caution to the wind and simply started this blog, and I’m proud to have made it this far. It’s taken a lot of effort, but it’s also been a joy to build the kind of blog I always wanted to read. I’m genuinely grateful to have reached this milestone, and even more thankful that you’re here for it. Here’s to the next thousand!