"Thank Your First Commenter Day"

Neil, over at Citizen of the Month, started a tradition last year called "Thank Your First Commenter Day." It's all tied into giving thanks and showing your appreciation for that first kind soul who made a stumbling newbie blogger feel welcome in Blogsylvania. Neil explains it all very logically with a history lesson about savvy Native Americans, and clueless uptight Pilgrims, and canned cranberry sauce, so you might want to pop over there and read about it because he explains it better than I ever could. Anyway... I didn't participate last year because I'd never heard of Neil at this time last year, so I was ignorant about this important new occasion. But this year I'm in! The very first person to ever leave a comment on Red Shoe Ramblings was the delightful Dara, who I must admit I knew before I started blogging, since we co-own a formerly hoppin' but now sadly neglected email list. She is, in fact, one of the main people who talked me into trying blogging in the first place, so I'm sure that first comment - and many that came after it - were a way of encouraging me to keep at it. Dara is a Buddhist nun with a wicked sense of humor (I know, sounds like a contradiction, doesn't it, but it's true!) who lives and works in Sedona, AZ. Her blog is called Daramusing. It hasn't been updated for a couple of months, but if anyone wants to stop by and say hi and maybe leave a comment, I bet she'd like to hear from you. Dara, thank you for being the first person to give me a little bloggy comment love! I miss your voice, sweetie. Wish you'd write something! :::smooch::: Oh, and if anyone wants to read the first post (don't expect much...SO dull!) and Dara's first comment, you can click here and scroll to the bottom of the page. Sorry I can't link directly to just the one post, but for some reason that's the one and only post I don't have archived individually. I must've monkeyed around with my settings on Day 2! Here's today's Daily Art Thang, a photo I snapped from our front porch a few mornings ago. It looks like the way I usually feel in the morning before I've gotten that first jolt of caffeine in my system. "Morning Fog" (clickable) PS...While I'm thanking my first-ever commenter, I'll also send a shout out to my latest commenter, because I like the idea of honoring the present as well as the past. The last person to leave a comment here just before I hit publish on this new post was the lovely Darlene of A Walk in My Shoes. So glad you stopped by, Darlene. I always love to hear from you! :::smooch::: to you too. :-)