The Time, She Flies

By Eilene Lyon

I often take a break in January and thus miss my blogging anniversary. Last year I bowed out in January and for six weeks in October and November in order to complete a book manuscript. Not surprisingly, I wrote only 41 posts in 2023 (a record low after 2022’s 43 posts). My biggest year for writing was when I started, back in 2018, with 160 posts! Well, I guess I had a lot to say back then. This is my 490th post.

I’ve now completed six full years of blogging and it seems the time has really flown by. Of my top four posts in 2023, two were from previous years. In order of most views: Anacapa Island Conservation (2023), The Durango Depot—479 Main (2021), The Slide Years: Storybook Land (2019), and Portland’s Japanese Garden (2023). It seems that travel and place-based blogs were the clear winner last year.

The Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge RR depot.

For all time views, the top four: Justice for Mrs. Loftus (2020), John Annable—United Empire Loyalist (2018), Murder in New Netherland (2018), and again, The Slide Years: Storybook Land. Who knew that a brief story about a small, defunct amusement park I visited as a child living in Virginia would attract so much attention! Overall, history articles are still a big draw.

Me, driving a real gas-powered car, at Storybook Land in the 1960s.

My 2023 viewership was the lowest of all the years I’ve been blogging, partly because I wrote less, but also because I have not been looking for new bloggers to follow as some have departed, usually without fanfare or explanation. Not everyone I follow follows me, or vice versa, but engaging with fellow bloggers is one of the best ways to build an audience. Search engines, though, remain the top drivers of viewers to my blog.

There were readers from 65 countries in 2023. The top five were: United States (ten times more than second place), Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and China. Over the entire six years of blogging, there have been visitors from 122 countries.

White pelicans flying near Anacapa Island in Channel Islands National Park (California)

Though I blog irregularly, I do have a pattern to my posts. Tuesdays are for history or nature/science topics. Thursdays are for travel, memoir, special projects (like Found Photos), and miscellaneous. (Sometimes categories overlap, so a particular post could appear Tuesday or Thursday.) Saturdays are for my family history or genealogical topics.

What about this crazy blog name, “Myricopia”? You can see I like to write about many different things, so I combined a couple word roots to form one word: “myri” (numberless), as in myriad; “copia” (abundant), as in copious or cornucopia. Pronunciation is Meer-uh-COPE-ee-uh.

In 2023, I also started an author website to promote my books: Fortune’s Frenzy: A California Gold Rush Odyssey (Sept. 2023) and What Lies Beneath Colorado Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards (Sept. 2024), as well as my public speaking. As part of that site, I added a second blog for book reviews. I try to post a couple each month.

The murder of Ann Hutchinson in New Netherland.

My plan for 2024 is to revive Myricopia with a minimum of four post per month, but hopefully more. I have book projects to pursue, but do not plan on having any tight deadlines as I did for What Lies Beneath… (13 months to research and write). Perhaps I can return to publishing magazine articles as well.

Best laid plans…

Happy New Year to all!

Feature image: Twin Buttes near Durango at sunset on December 31, 2023.

57 thoughts on “The Time, She Flies”

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  5. Love the story behind the blog name! Blogging, and blogs in general change from year to year- sometimes even more often than that. I think a lot depends on what you want from a blog as the author, but also trends and interests as readers come and go. Everyone brings something different to their blog and as long as it works for the author I think that’s what should matter, not stats and all the other details unless that’s what you want or seek.

    I love all the stories you tell Eilene, and respect whatever routine and schedule you have as long as it works for you and makes you happy so I look forward to more in 2024 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Deb! I’m happy with how my blog evolves. I do take stats with a grain of salt, and know that are not entirely accurate, either. Just gives me a general idea of what people like to read. I will still be occasionally self-indulgent and write stuff no one really cares about.😀 I appreciate all my readers, their comments, and what they bring to the conversation. I’d like to push the envelope a bit in the future and perhaps take some bold, controversial stance on some issues. Reinterpret history to be more inclusive.

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      1. I think that would be an excellent idea Eilene. I quite enjoy when writers push the envelope. My blog has always been rather mild, non controversial I suppose…I would like that to change but struggle with how. It would be a rather radical change I think, and when I am passionate about a topic I visualize some major reactions! At the same time, I’m not at all sure I want to start a second blog just to be vocal and opinionated. That means WORK! So I have to decide: do I want to work to be more of my true self, or coast and stick with fluff?!!!

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      2. I’m not sure how far I’d go or in what direction. I don’t tend to think of my views as very radical, but maybe I do see some things differently than mainstream. Don’t expect any major changes anytime soon. Mostly, I enjoy telling stories.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. I have your book next on my to read pile. I can’t wait. I went to Gold Rush country in CA with my son’s sixth grade class and it’s the first time I explored that history. I enjoy seeing how blogs change through the years. I’m going on 10 years and mine has changed focus several times.

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  8. Happy New Year, Eilene, and it’s been a joy to read your posts and connect with you. I’ve been blogging for about the same if not a bit longer. Look forward to reading more from you in 2024.

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  9. It’s funny… I think I subconsciously knew what the title of your blog meant. Now it is confirmed 🙂
    You are more organized than I blog-wise. I post completely willy-nilly with no method and total madness.
    I am glad our paths have crossed!
    Happy New Year! May 2024 bring you opportunities, love and laughter, good health and overall happiness.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you, Dale! I enjoy all your posts regardless of day or subject matter. Your photography is special, too. I thought there must be some people who would figure out the roots of my blog name. In retrospect, I think I would not make up a name if I had it to do over. Best wishes for an awesome 2024 (and be so happy you aren’t involved in our presidential election! Ugh.)

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      1. Thank you, Eilene. So glad you do. 😊
        You wouldn’t? Why not? It’s a cool name.
        Thank you very much and I feel like I am since my beau is ‘Murican so I get the blow-by-blow… 😉

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Well, most people don’t really know what it means or how to pronounce. I could have made it something understandable. Or not! Try not to get too caught up in it – not worth it!

        Liked by 1 person

  11. I had a very quick look at my stats the other day – a bit higher than last year, but well down on the peak of a few years ago when I was posting twice a week. However did I find the time? I don’t always manage twice a month now. However, I intend to do something about that this year. Maybe! Happy blogging in 2024, Eilene, and I look forward to continuing our connection.

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    1. Certainly having fewer posts results in lower numbers overall. But we do what we can do. I’ve gotten so lazy since turning in my last manuscript. I need to get myself in gear! Looking forward to your 2024 gallivants!

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  12. I did wonder about your blog title Eileen, so thank you for explaining it to us. I have been blogging for almost 11 years and I have found two posts a week works for me and have done that schedule since I began Wordless Wednesday in March 2020. It’s been a fun way to spotlight photos I really like or are often funny. I didn’t realize your posts had a pattern for when they posted – that was interesting to read. Happy New Year and may there be many more years of blogging for you.

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    1. Eleven years is a long time. I hope to get there and beyond, but the demise of blogging predictions have been around a while (ditto for newspapers and bookstores – and reading in general). I hope they stick around, because I have found the overall vibe very positive. I think your schedule works well. I see a number of people doing the Wordless Wednesday, which lightens the load.
      Happy New Year, Linda. Enjoy your many walking adventures to come!

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      1. I enjoy the whole aspect of blogging Eilene. It also got me interested in photography again, so that is one plus. I hope AI does not cause a demise of blogging. I hear that younger people don’t like to read unless they are able to get their news in small portions and reading a book does not interest them at all. I read that many people skip over e-mails (in the workplace or personal) if they are longer than eight lines. I like my posting schedule, although I did not intend two Wordless Wednesday posts to publish today. I always keep a WW post scheduled in case I lose my internet for some reason. I have not missed a WW post since I began in March 2020, but I forgot to reschedule it to next week – oops. Thank you – walking and writing are big parts of my life.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. No doubt the development of “smart” phones, texting, Instagram, TikTok, etc. has contributed to ever-declining attention spans in younger generations. I’m not sure the long-predicted demise of books and long reads is quite ready to die out. If it does, woe is society. You cannot really learn important stuff in 8 lines.

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  15. Congrats on all your successes!!! How’s your book doing, it sounds fascinating. And I love the pic of you driving the little car. Adorable! Happy New Year and many more years of happy blogging.

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    1. Thank you, Polly! I think the book is doing okay so far. It’s hard to know, exactly. It did get a NYT book review, which has helped me get it into independent bookstores.

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  16. Nice report. I also have been blogging less often. As you said, so many genealogy bloggers have fallen to the wayside. I used to read a lot of other blogs and learned a lot, but most of those bloggers no longer blog or blog about something other than genealogy or blog very erratically and infrequently. It also means many no longer read other blogs. So I am less motivated. What keeps me going for the most part is my own interest and the fact that the blog is cousin bait—I’ve connected with so many cousins because they have tripped on my blog when googling some relative of theirs. So I will keep going, but at this point I only post once every two weeks. When I started, it was at least three times a week!

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    1. Like you, I have been contacted by many cousins who have found our shared ancestors in stories on my blog. That has never stopped. I am so grateful to be in touch with them. I doubt I will ever return to writing a hundred or more posts a year. Other projects and even *gasp* time off from working (writing) is pulling me away. I want to do more traveling this year and just have more fun, in general. I know there are new genealogy blogger out there, but haven’t made the effort to seek them out.

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