The Latvian Herb Goddess

     Last night, as in every Friday evening that we are home (read: 49 or 50 out of 52 a year), a number of friends came calling.  They brought appetizers; we supplied the beverages.  And  from 5:00 to 7:00 we laughed and visited and caught up with ourselves.  The mix of people was a bit different (as is almost always the case) and included two newcomers, which led me to my faux pas.
     Although most everyone knew almost everyone, there were a couple of folks who didn’t really know the ‘newcomers’ and so, being the gracious hostess that I am, I introduced them and mentioned that Karin is the “Latvian Love Goddess” of cyberspace.  She immediately blushed and protested, “No!  No! It’s Latvian Herb Goddess!”  And all the rest of us burst into gales of laughter over my error.
     I was referring to her online blog (check it out at http://karinpennington.tumblr.com/ ) and got just a tad confused.  That led to a blog discussion and the very legitimate question posed by 85-year-old Kaye, “Why blog?”  Why, indeed?  We concluded that each blogger probably has his or her own reasons but Kaye was left mystified.  “It’s there and then it’s gone,” she said – a legitimate observation, for sure.
     I have known Kaye for nigh unto forty years and I always think of her as “the party girl of the peninsula.”  I wish I had thought to equate blogging to going to a big, online party.  You never know just who will be there, but undoubtedly there will be lots of friends and a few strangers.  Like a real-time party, you get to “schmooze” with everybody, do a little “net-working,” talk about what’s important to you at the time.  You get feed-back in the form of comments and, hopefully, you become a “favorite” and get a following.  A lot like Kaye, over the years, has been invited to all the parties and events of importance here at the beach.  She has a following.
     Maybe that analogy would have made sense to her.  It does to me.  Maybe I could be called the Oysterville Party Goddess…