Nature Blog Network

This week, I’d like you to meet Susannah, who blogs at Wanderin’ Weeta. She’s a sixty-something Canadian, retired, and living in the Lower Fraser Valley near the British Columbia-Washington border. Her blog is about the “birds, green stuff, tiny beasties and oddities generally” discovered in her daily wanderings. She’s also one of the first bloggers I read when I resumed blogging in 2006, and I’ve consistently enjoyed her posts ever since.

A frequent contributor to I and the Bird, Circus of the Spineless, Carnival of the Blue, and The Moth and Me, Susannah plans to host The Moth and Me in November. She also participates in and blogs about Blogger BioBlitz and International Rock Flipping Day, and contributes, when she remembers, to Friday Ark and Skywatch.

In 2008, she hosted I and the Bird #76 with Party at Uncle Merl’s! and in 2009 was host to Circus of the Spineless #43, with her Confession,

I may as well face the truth. Just speak up and admit it; I’m addicted. Addicted to the squirmy, crawly, squishy, tentacled, shelled, chitined, variously-limbed, multi-hued majority of animals on this space pebble of ours. The spineless, in other words.

Susannah, why do you blog?

I have always, so long as I can remember, been writing, but only occasionally for publication. And almost from the first time I turned on a computer, ‘way back in the ’80s, I have been on-line. Blogging is just the inevitable mingling of the two.

One of my favourite nature books is Nature Diary of a Quiet Pedestrian, by Philip Croft.

…a lyrical appreciation of West coast nature by the brilliant naturalist Philip Croft. Set in a diary form, it is based on Croft’s regular daily walk through his own neighbourhood in West Vancouver, into the forest and down to the beach.

Croft alerted me to the importance of the little things, the things we brush by without seeing, complain about (dratted blackberry vines!), or look at but never pass on; who would be interested in the beetle we saw on the path?

When I first saw a blog, my reaction was, “Oh, I want to do this!” But I was not confident in my ability to stick with it, day in and day out, so I put it off. Finally — and this is a bit crazy, but it worked for me — I picked up one of those “Free Blogs” that everyone seemed to be offering, and started listing, every day, the varying contents of my desk, down to the stray rubber band and half-eaten salad. And that developed into telling why I had those particular items or books there at that moment, and where I’d been, etc. So I decided that I could actually do it, and started over, first on Delphi, then here on Blogspot.

And I’ve never regretted it. I’m having fun, I’m meeting such interesting people, I get to share my delight in the world around me; there’s no downside. And other bloggers are so helpful! On occasion, I’ve made silly mistakes; sure enough, by morning, someone halfway around the world has pointed it out to me, or added the detail I was missing, made the identification I needed.

Why start a blog? That’s like asking, “Why start a conversation?” Because it comes naturally to want to connect with other people.

What do you like most and least about blogging?

The best? Hard to say. The community, I think. Other bloggers, sharing the same interests, the same goals, sometimes the same sense of humour, even.

What don’t I like about blogging?

Sometimes, after a long, busy day, when I have a story to tell or a photo to share, but I am tired, so tired my eyes keep closing as I work, I think it would be nice just to close the computer and go to bed. But part of my commitment is to blog every day, even if it’s only a short post. (It’s not an essential for blogging, just a rule I have imposed on myself.) So I go on, and sleep the better for it.

How has blogging changed how you think about nature, or how you write?

I blog as I wander. I see something, and think, “I could blog about that.” And that pushes me to stop, take better notice, make sure I get the details. So I have learned things and seen things that otherwise I would have passed by.

As for my writing, I edit myself far less. I don’t read what I’ve written out loud, as I used to, to get the “sound” of it. Maybe I should..

How do you promote your blog and attract readers?

I am not too good at promotion. What little I do is what comes naturally; I love to interact with other bloggers and residents of the Web, so wherever I go online, I carry my little stash of links, to Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter, mainly.

How did you pick the name of your blog?

“Weeta” is what one of my granddaughters was calling me when I started blogging. It’s her pronunciation of “Abuelita” – “Grandma.” And wandering is what I do, and what I blog about. Subject matter? Well, alliteration gets me going: WaterfoWl and Weeds came to mind. I could have added Wrigglies, for a seventh “W”, but I decided against it. So the long name is Wanderin’ Weeta (with Waterfowl and Weeds); these days, I mostly go by “Wanderin’ Weeta”.

Do you feel you’re part of a community with other nature bloggers?

I get the feeling, from the nature blog community, that we are united in a common effort; to notice, understand, celebrate and preserve the living planet we find ourselves on. Wherever we are, whatever our particular interests, it all comes down to that. I’m glad to add my little squeak to the general voice.

And yes, I have made friends online. I have met one in person; others will come later, I’m sure.

Any words of wisdom for new nature bloggers?

Two things: Be yourself. Write what interests you, and tell us why it does; don’t try to imitate others.

And don’t give up, even though at first, it may seem that no-one is paying attention. Don’t check your stats if they discourage you. Join the conversation on other blogs; become part of the community. And readers will show up, in time. Just make sure you’re still there when they do. Don’t give up!

Anything else you’d like me to ask you, or that you’d like to volunteer without being asked?

What’s on my desk right now? No. But my desk faces the window, always. At the moment, the maple leaves are falling on the garden, carpeting it in yellow and rich browns. That’s one of those important “little things.”

Thanks for letting me talk!