Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
12/13/14. Have you noticed the date today? My partner tells me this date won’t repeat this century.
Our world is structured by numbers in so many ways. Even the ancients explored the mysteries of number, and expressed their understanding through architecture, music, sculpture, and engineering those monuments which have survived for centuries or more to intrigue us still today.
And this wonderful technology we use is all based on numbers. Not that I understand binary code.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
Frankly, it seems like modern day “magic” to type this on my computer and know that a friend in Belgium, Indonesia, or Australia can read it as quickly as my friends down the street. And what pure pleasure to come to my computer at any hour of the day or night and enjoy photographs and ideas just posted from people all over the planet!
I began this morning by sharing photos of the dragonfly which visited LiJiun’s garden, with my partner. It brought back such warm memories of the time I spent photographing dragonflies in our garden this summer. (Dragonflies don’t startle easily, and don’t mind having their photos taken, I’ve found.)
Now in the WordPress Community, the link I just created for you to see LiJiun’s photos is called a “pingback.” WordPress bloggers frequently create these to link the reader to another interesting blog we want to share with you for some reason. And up until recently, they’ve always worked just fine.
And part of the way they work includes sending a message back to the other blog’s author, so they are aware of the link you’ve created.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
I’ve asked fellow bloggers who want to participate in the Holiday Wreath Challenge to just create one of these “pingbacks” in their own post about wreathes, so I know they are participating. Then I’ll include links back to their blog in a post early next week; so we can all find and enjoy one another’s photos of the wreathes we’ve made this year.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
And then last night, my friend Barbara sent me a message in the comments about her beautiful post. And she had a link in her post back here to Forest Garden. But no pingback ever turned up.
And that is when I realized that the pingbacks aren’t working properly on WordPress in general.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
Some of us have been aware that WordPress pingbacks haven’t worked properly for some of their own challenges in recent weeks. But now I realize that pingbacks aren’t working at all…. and probably haven’t been for some time now.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
It’s all in the numbers…. My guess is that the volume of traffic has grown so much on WordPress in general, that the sheer number may have overwhelmed this part of the system. But that is only my guess.
But it leads me to wonder whether I might have missed some of your posts about your wreath and holiday decorations…..
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
If you have posted, and created the pingback I suggested to join in, just know that I didn’t get it. Please follow up with an email or a link in the comments. I’ve responded back to everyone whose posts I’ve found thus far.
I hope you are planning to share in this holiday wreath challenge.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
What fun if we could travel all around the world sharing the beauty of the season with one another, through the magic of the internet and our vibrant blogging community.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
If you have already posted, please just send me your link (again) even though you created that “pingback.” If you plan to post sometime this weekend, please just send me a comment or email with your link.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
If you don’t have your own blog, you can still join in. Just attach your photos to an email. Please tell me know whether it is OK to use your name and location in the photo credit.
The excitement builds little by little all through December. Each day brings us closer to the beauty and fun of the Christmas season.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
Please watch for a compilation post of photos of all your beautiful creations, and links to your posts about them, by next Wednesday, 12/17/14.
Let us all share in the joy and beauty of the season.
Colonial Williamsburg, 2014
Woodland Gnome 2014
woodlandgnome@zoho.com
Forest Garden 