A Versatile / Paranoid Blogger

One warm, fall day at work, where I’m a part owner with my parents and my brother, I saw an unknown suburban pull into our location, and swing haphazardly over by our plant and silo.  An arm stuck precariously out of the driver’s side window with a camera and began snapping photos.  Being the overly paranoid person that I am, something in my gut told me that this was not normal.  I also couldn’t help but consider the sign at our entrance stating “All Visitors Required to Check in at the Office” which had clearly been ignored.

Pictures taken, window rolled back up, the vehicle practically peeled out of our pit and sped onto the county road below it (at least that’s how my paranoid mind saw it), me in my little white Toyota (or “micro machine” as my brother calls it) in full pursuit.  I followed the vehicle for about 5 miles, not really sure what I was going to do if and when they finally stopped except maybe . . . ask them why they were taking pictures of our plant?  Yeah, I know, you’re probably wondering why I even followed them in the first place.  In answer to that, I can’t really say except that I reverted to my paranoia, thinking that someone was out trying to “get me.”

The vehicle eventually stopped and in a split moment’s indecision about whether to stop or not, I drove slowly past the vehicle and . . .no one was there.  There was nobody in the driver’s seat.  Hmmmmm.  You can imagine how my paranoid mind started spinning out of control now!

Thinking back on the situation, I’m pretty sure my paranoia made that driver paranoid and they had probably slunk down in their seat hoping I wouldn’t knock on their window, gun in hand, demanding those taken pictures back.  And all the while, I had that same image in my mind, only they were the gun wielding ones.

Our silo with the infamous intials on them. (This is the GOOD MSG though) I can't take credit for this photo, my brother Dan took this one. Luckily, I didn't pursue him crazily down the county road after he took his.

A little later, I did call the Sheriff’s Office to report a suspicious incident.  He investigated the driverless vehicle that I had followed.  He called me back later to let me know that the poor lady I had followed was getting married the next weekend and had some good friends coming in for the week.  She had seen the giant logo on our silo, which matched the initials of one of her friends and she had simply wanted to take a picture to memorialize it for her friend.  My paranoid mind didn’t believe it.  But my rational mind somehow persuaded me to let it go and believe people every once in awhile.

So it’s no surprise that this new, blogging world has taken some getting used to.  It has been scary to put my words out there, and it’s proven even scarier to find that people are actually reading them.  When this all started, I actually suffered from what I considered to be a blogging-induced insomnia.  Hopefully I’m not the only one who’s suffered from this.  I couldn’t sleep, I was so worried about what I had written and putting it out there for the world to read, in the eternal file cabinet of the internet, was so nerve-wracking it kept me up at night.

On one of the first posts I wrote, Photo Nature Blog somehow found me and liked my post.  You can imagine, my paranoid mind kicked into gear.  How did this person find me?  Who was this person?  Why did they like it?  And thus began the slow road to muffling my paranoid thoughts and giving in to the idea that I was making a conscious decision to write and to post publicly.  And that means embracing support from my closest friends and family to online strangers whom I’ve never met.  What an amazing, interconnected world we live in now!

The encouragement and support I’ve received has been truly amazing.  Thank you to my earliest commentors and “likers” for reading my posts and supporting me so early on, before I even knew enough to appreciate a random stumble upon my meager, little space.

This past week, Jess at Semi-Rural Farm Life nominated me for the Versatile (no, not Paranoid!) Blogger Award!  Jess writes a blog about semi-rural life including long dirt driveways that create more challenges than anticipated, ski trips that end in emergency rooms and boarding horses that mysteriously escape, tip things over and let themselves in and out of their locked stalls as they wish.  (We won’t tell their owners!)  I really enjoy it Jess, thanks for nominating Bloom for the Versatile Blogger Award!

Oddly enough, I was also nominated by another Jess at A Winsome Journey this week.  This Jess lives on a beautiful farm in upstate New York where they have chickens, dogs and llamas!  She always offers a thoughtful tip for the day and her roots in faith (and beautiful photos) always shine through, giving me a dose of inspiration somehow always when I need it most.

As part of the rules, I am to list 7 random facts about myself.  I’m guessing I can’t include the fact that I’m paranoid??  Too many of you know about that now!

1.  I raised 3 Grand Chamption market pigs while growing up.

2.  Spring is my least favorite season.  Being a lover of all things blooming and flowering, I can hear your gasps now.  I blame it on the mud and wind.

3.  My favorite kind of potatoes:  flakes.  Yep, the fake, instant kind.  Love them!

4.  I was once approached because someone thought I was honestly Kevin Bacon’s sister.  Does he even have a sister?

5.  My all time favorite song ever is “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison

6.  I operate front-end loaders on a daily basis.  And I’m pretty good, if I don’t say so myself.  A few years ago when there was that show on tv about guessing people’s occuptions, I thought I should have signed up.  I’m pretty sure no one would ever guess I operate heavy equipment.  In fact I had an acquaintance that thought I was a lawyer for 3 years before she finally found out what it really was I did.  Maybe I can attribute that to my paranoid personality type?

7. I also play the piano and enjoy a fair dose of trashy, reality tv on a weekly basis. I know, I know, I’m ashamed of that last one too.

I am also to nominate seven other “Versatile Bogger Worthy” sites for the award.  Here goes:

1.  Photo Nature Blog — one of my very first followers, a site you can always count on for a beautiful photograph.

2.  Silver Fin of Hope — A beautiful, honest writer.  She focuses on fiction, but writes so beautifully from her heart about true experiences as well, especially the recent loss of her grandparents.

3.  Babble & Baklava — Just recently stumbled upon her writing.  It too, is heartfelt, honest, endearing and relatable all at once.

4.  Gwirrel’s Garden — As a flower FANATIC, this blog is not to be missed!  Beautiful photos of blooms, especially iris, crocus and hellebores lately.

5.  The Domestic Fringe — Also just recently found this site as well.  When I happened upon it, I found myself stuck there for at least an hour, reading and laughing out loud.

6.  Country Boy City Girls — cute ramblings on things like kids, mules and life in the country

7.  The Better Man Project — always inspiring and thought-provoking!

There are so many other great ones in addition to theses.  For everyone I follow:  Thank you for having something important to say and finding the courage to put it out there.  Keep writing!

For those of you nominated, and wishing to play along, here are the Rules:

1. In a post on your blog, nominate 7 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.

2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.

3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.

4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

5. In the same post, include this set of rules.

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.