When I began blogging almost nine years ago I remember being asked what blogging was. I replied I was writing a magazine about me. And I suppose that is what I have been doing. Here there have been 2,516 posts and over there another 5,377. Most astoundingly to me are the 38,973 collective comments - beyond the filtered spam - that have been left by folks like you. I suppose I have read them all. I don't recall.
The end of the annual Christmas beery photo contest serves as something of a conclusion of the bloggy season in a way. It's good to reflect. To slow down for Yule and also think about the beer and blog connection. In one real sense, I have put my dedication to the fluid on display. Perhaps even my weakness to its call. I am not one to blindly boost good beer, after all, so much as to admit its grip - or, perhaps, only its deep abiding attraction. I don't really care about my right to good beer, the role of those slagged as neo-prohibitionists or even matters of snobby status. I don't think I have really discovered any truths. I don't want a job. I really just like the beer and like the regular discipline of writing about it.
So, away we go with the seasons. As we again turn slowly into the light of the sun as winter solstice passes with this longest night of the year, I will have beer and keep writing about it. I will enjoy it and I will think about it. I hope you do, too.