And The Lobster Award Goes To...

...you, of course! What's a Lobster Award, you ask? That's what I said when my friend Victor awarded one to me recently. To put it briefly, this unique award honors not the blog writer, but the reader. To use Victor's words:

This magnificent and rarely presented Award is only given to those tireless and hard-working Bloggers who, despite the many vicissitudes which life may throw in their way, despite the magnitude of the task ahead in their daily grind that is this vale of tears, despite every obstacle, every hardship, and every discouragements and temptations to just click and move on to another Blog; they still find time to visit your personal offering and to regularly leave a message there in the Comments Box.

I couldn't believe his generosity--to give me an award for doing something that I enjoy so much. It's always a joy to read Victor's blog, and it's fun to comment because not only does he reply to every comment, but he also faithfully visits the blogs of all his regular commenters. (I don't know how he finds time to do that as he quite a popular blogger.)

So, now that I've been honored with the illustrious Lobster Award, my instructions are to nominate the bloggers who comment regularly on this blog. I will leave a comment on their blogs and invite them to pass the award on to their faithful commenters.

Here's my list:

Victor (of course)
Gentle
Melissa
Jenny

I'd also like to give an honorable mention to all my readers, the vast majority of whom are not bloggers--like my sweet Aunt Donna, who comments on just about every post. (I'd list all of your names, but I'm quite sure I would miss someone.) I know you all have busy lives like mine, and that I am terribly long-winded, so I'm honored that you would spend the time to read what I have to say.

To those of you who comment via email, Facebook, or good old face-to-face conversations, thank you so much. Your encouragement is what keeps me writing. You see, blogging is an act of faith. It's rather like talking to myself. For me, there's no such thing as a quick blog entry; it's not unusual for me to spend two to three hours on a single entry, especially if pictures are included. Whether I'm sharing my heart or just telling a funny story, I have to trust that someone out there is reading. Getting comments in any form makes my heart leap, and hearing that something I shared touched your heart usually brings happy tears.

I'll make you a deal: you keep reading, and I'll keep writing. And if something I share makes you smile, or laugh, or cry, please consider letting me know. I love you guys.