Who reads this thing?

My mom, for one. After that last post I got an e-mail from her: "Are you depressed?" (yes) "Are you quoting someone?" (yes -- the narrator in Moby Dick) "Are you okay?"

Yes, Mother, I'm fine.

The best blogging, I think, is writing that is close to the bone ... by folks who allow their most personal and specific thoughts and struggles illuminate a common human condition.

It takes a lot of courage to do that. Wendee does it sometimes, but she also says she's a "heart on my sleeve kind of gal ..." I spent some time reading a blog a while back that was all about the dating travails of four 30-something single women. It was hilarious.

I don't think I'm quite there yet.

And of course, for me, blogging is (in very small) part marketing ... my book publisher reads this. My magazine editor checks in. God knows who else.

I have a subscription to Google Analytics, and it gives me some very basic aggregate information -- don't worry, I can't tell all that much about who you are; but I can make some guesses. And some of the data are pretty interesting.

For instance, apparently someone from Jasper, Texas, checks in pretty regularly. I've been to Jasper, and it's a pretty small town. A small, pretty town in fact.

And I have more than one reader -- or one reader who uses more than one computer -- in Lake Mary, Florida. Don't think I know anyone in Lake Mary, unless it's one of my Snook Foundation friends.

Key Biscayne, Florida: thanks for checking in, Lisa. And thanks for checking my facts, too!

Aransas Pass, a regular visitor, might be Dean, or it might be another TKF regular.

Gaocun, China? No idea. San Diego? Huh ..... Here's one: Palatine, Illinois. Regular visitor, and I'm pretty sure I don't know anyone in Palatine. But thanks for visiting!

Referrers are pretty predictable, for the most part ... some folks get here from search engines, some from links on message boards or friends' blogs ... I had one the other day from "teencumshots.blogspot.com"

No thanks. Really. I'm really hoping that one was completely random.

But people -- some of them people I don't even know -- say the nicest things, too. Here's one comment I got the other day from I-don't-know-who:

"I have been reading your blog for a while now and really enjoy the way you write, you have the uncanny ability to transport your readers to the place and time of your adventures. Keep up the good work it brings joy to more people than you probably realize."

What a wonderful compliment! Thanks so much.

Anyway, in case you're wondering, here's the breakdown:

I've had about a thousand visitors since the last day of October, 2006. A whole bunch of you come back more than once, and I thank you. I hope you'll continue to find something useful, or entertaining, or at least a little bit interesting here.

Over the life of this site so far, an average of about 11 folks pop in each day. Lately the average has been a bit higher -- about 30 each day.

Most of you live here in the States, but I've also had visitors from: Canada, the UK, Spain, Germany, South Africa, Denmark, Italy, Belgium, Columbia, Argentina ... and a handful of other places.

A good portion of you read the three latest posts, or one of the three latest posts, and go away. But a whole bunch of you really liked the fly fishing post (kinda funny, because really I was just trying to be slick and avoid giving a fishing report), and the article about fishing with Patrick and about restoring an old sailboat were pretty popular, too.

Anyway, thanks for stopping in. And, really Mom, I'm okay.