40,000 Hits in the Blogosphere

      February has begun. Here in the northeast of America, we are in the grip of a severe winter. How severe? Well, the 20” of snow that fell in December, has not melted yet and it has been generously topped off with 4-5 more snowfalls. Now the snow has hardened into an icy landscape, that seems permanently white. In the midst of this winter ambience, this blog reached and crossed the milestone of 40,000 hits! As this blog draws a lot of energy from the four seasons here (e.g. yellow, red, green), I thought of celebrating this milestone in the monochrome of winter landscape i.e. white snow, gray shadows, gray skies. So here is a photo and a painting that recycles winter dreariness into a celebration .

Right: Painting of a marble carving in the colors of winter. Above: Winter monchrome

      Now a bit about the future. After the third anniversary, it was decided that I would blog once in 3-6 weeks. But since then many new people have flocked to this blog. Many have expressed that I should blog more often. Many have clearly said that they are waiting for more. Its delightful to know that the articles in this blog have generated an ever growing audience. Someone who follows this blog closely has suggested that I should complile all the posts on the ‘East-West’ theme into a book. When I told her that I am still waiting for my first book to come out she said, “Don’t worry. On the cover of the ‘East- West’ book, you can say by the author of this book!”  This kind of faith really touches my heart.

      So with the backing of so many enthusiastic readers and their faith in the potential of this blog, I shall be writing 12-18 articles each year, depending on the availability of time. For the benefit of the new readers, these shall be supplemented with old articles, that revive the seasonal flavors. Now that it is a milestone celebration, here are the top ten articles from this blog:

1. Democratic race in red and yellow colors - 2,127 hits !!!

2. The life cycle of a sunflower – 1,420 hits

3. Nursery School Design – 1,348 hits. This post is the new rising star as it gets ‘hits’ everyday!

 4. From Mother India to Indra Nooyi - 1,236 hits. It has been published in a magazine as well.

5.  Sun dappled paintings by mother nature - 841 hits

6. Architecture – 732 hits

7. Concept for a nature inspired stadium design - 678 hits

8.  Top twenty posts & pages – 534 hits

9. Reflections of life – 417 hits ( This was the top ranking post for almost a year!)

10. Synopsis of the book – 412 hits 

      With this I thank all of you for reading this blog and supporting it with your thoughtful comments. As this blog continues to grow, once again I shall say, spread the word, spread the joy.

Ratna

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Blog Stats: 40,106 hits

For the new readers:  Watercolor Painting, Creating spring with the colors of winter

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To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream;

not only plan, but also believe.

- Anatole France