2018 is now in the books.  I was hoping to have a fabulous blog post ready for today, but with the holiday and all, things were moving more slowly than we might expect.  Or perhaps exactly as slowly as we might expect.

Never fear, though, because I can offer you a snapshot on how things are going here.  Yeah, yeah . . . , others did this sort of thing as their last post of 2018.  But we do things a bit differently here (as some say on TV).  And besides, I now have complete data to share.

2018 was the fourth year in a row of a dramatic improvement in viewership, although things are leveling off.  Just three shy of 15,600 page views for the year is the final figure.  Not nothing, but hardly impressive.  I suppose I could concentrate on topics that generate tons of hits, but then this wouldn’t be the same place it is now.  And I like the kind of place it is now.

Views were up by about one third, and while that is great, it is not as great as each prior year that doubled views from the year before.  Oh well, up is up and I am happy with it.

I have pretty much stopped promoting this blog on Facebook and have never really pushed it on other forms of social media.  It has received a bit of a boost from my tie-in at CurbsideClassic.com, so there is that.  Mostly the growth this year has been organic and natural.  Which is a good thing.

What were the top five posts?  They were (in reverse order for a little drama):

5.  My New Car Has A Rust Spot was a lament on how quickly things age, and how much we fail to notice that aging until we are forced into it.  For those who wonder, I finally did something about the rust on my still-seems-new car, a process that I chronicled over at Curbside Classic.  It looks good.

4.  Throwing Out A Potted Plant was written nearly three years ago and expressed my long and complicated relationship with a potted plant in my office.  The plant reminded me of my father.  Unfortunately, the plant also had to endure my not-very-green thumb before it was finally time for us to part.  I am amazed that it continues to get hits.

3.  Driving A 20 Year Old Car – And How I Feel About It was inspired by the summer I drove my daughter’s elderly Honda Civic.  And how my over-active imagination had difficulty coping with such a vanillamobile.  It was a fun post to write, but another that surprises me by its popularity.

2. The Dominican and the Franciscan – An Argument Waiting to Happen or Two Paths to the Same Place?  This post from October of 2015 has proved to be an evergreen, drawing a click or three week in and week out.  I guess wondering about the difference between these two well known Catholic religious orders is more widespread than I first imagined.

1.  Longtime readers will not be surprised that my post entitled French Burnt Peanuts and Other Disappointments of Life was once again my most popular for the year (as has been the case each past year), with 528 page views.  The French Burnt Peanut fans of the world want to know what’s up with their missing candy, and I have tried to be of service.  I find it interesting that the taste test I wrote about this past year in which I compared some of the other available brands  (French Burnt Peanuts – A Redeux) only managed to place 31st in views.  I suppose once folks find out the Real Deal is gone, they lapse into a funk and don’t care to settle on what’s left.

And then there is the issue of where all of those clicks come from. I continue to be amazed at the interest shown from different countries around the world.  Although the United States is far and away the main audience for these musings, Canada, Denmark, Australia, Slovakia and Finland are the next five in number of views, all from 2,000 to 200 for the year. And below them are thirty other countries that clicked in at least double digits.  As much as I appreciate those views, I am afraid I lack the time to say “hello and thank you” in the language of each country.  So I will say “hello and thank you” in English.

So there is the report.  In summary, it could be better and could be worse.  But I don’t really care that much because I still enjoy the time I spend here at my keyboard and (especially) the interaction with those of you who comment.

So to conclude, thanks for reading and in return for your time I will try to not bore you.  And a happy and blessed 2019 to one and all!