January 1, 2023

I am a Snowy Egret

And covergirl of Dee's New book

It will be available for purchase on January 10

And is filled with birds, rhymes and  gobbledygook.

A few days ago, I decided that I would announce that I have self-published a second book on my 2000th blog post. Clearly, I am better at rhyming than math as I realized that my 2000th blog post was somewhere around 184 days ago. So instead, I figured I would announce it today - the 7th birthday of my daily blog.

I'm not going to lie - apart from eating candy and annoying people, there is nothing else I have ever done daily for this long. In fact, if you had told me back on January 1, 2017 that I would still be at it 7 years later, I would have scoffed at you mightily. 

And, if you had told me that I would create multiple short films and 2 books based on the blog, I would have most likely asked you if you could please share whatever kind of pharmaceutical it was that you ingested before making that statement. But here we are. 

I want to take this time to thank my supporters who have been here since the beginning. Especially Joy and Heather E who read and review the blog every day and let me know if I have messed up the daily post. I sincerely appreciate them keeping me honest. Thanks also to Karen, Shirley, Joy and David for reviewing my books and videos as well. Thanks also to Space Coast Audubon, especially Rochelle, for carrying the blog on their Facebook page and promoting both me and the blog tirelessly. Thanks also to Heather S. who taught me how to be a master naturalist, but also has encouraged me to branch out into filmmaking - I would not have made it into as many film festivals as I have in the last few years without her support. 

I would be greatly remiss if I did not thank my family, especially Mom Simpson and Shirley who, although they do not share my affection for spiders, still read the blog anyway.  And of course thanks to my sweetheart, David for not leaving me in a swamp somewhere, despite having perfectly valid motives and opportunities to do so.  And, last, but absolutely not least, thanks so much to my followers and supporters on my blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Patreon. Although I try, I sometimes miss and do not always reply to every comment, but please know that I always read and appreciate them. It really means the world to me to know that people are still reading.

So what's ahead for 2023? Well, I wrote a children's book last year that I want to illustrate, but I really need to work on my drawing skills. So I have challenged myself to draw at least a little every day in 2023, and will be posting that work on Patreon to my tier 1 and above subscribers. I also plan to make more videos this year. I have a few that are in storyboard and lots of ideas for others. And I also plan to self-publish a third book - The Rhyming Guide to Perching Birds.

I wish you all a very happy new year, and hope you continue to enjoy the blog for another 7+ years.

xoxoxo,

Dee

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson