Heather and Roberta have this really sweet little cat living with them named Marty! He’s a tabby cat with a Garfield like face and a fairly mysterious past. He lives very comfortably in their wonderful home and over time, they have all become one big happy family!! This wasn’t always the case though…

For a long time, Marty was a stray that used to roam around Heather and Roberta’s backyard. Something led him to their place and for many months, he would just live in the hidden corners of their property and silently observe the humans that occupied the space. All the while though, he was also being watched in return. While Marty was busy sizing up Heather and Roberta, they were patiently watching their furry friend as he explored their world. Pretty soon, Roberta felt that they had danced around each long enough and slowly persuaded him into a deeper relationship. But this was no easy task! Roberta had to find a way to let Marty know that she was aware of his presence, yet had to do so in a manner that wouldn’t scare him off. Observing from a distance is delicate relationship at the best of times, nonetheless with a feline!! Roberta started off by leaving food out for him and over time, was able to make contact with him. It took many, many weeks to develop but eventually, Roberta convinced Marty that he was welcome in their home and just like that, a family was made.

I was thinking of this story today as I was telling Steve about the many visitors that have come by the site in recent months. Thanks to technology, I am able to monitor various statistics produced by my site, most namely, whereabouts in the world our guests are from. As a writer, this has helped me to understand what people are looking for when they come across my world but as a blogger, this has also left me feeling both like the stray cat and the owner of the house!

Back when I first starting blogging, I would often visit Lesley’s blog site and like Marty, I would watch from a distance. From the safety of my computer, I would glimpse into the life of the Patron Saint of Perpetual Dynamite and it never once occurred to me that she was also watching me…visiting via Internet Explorer from the Nation’s Capital!! At one point in time, she mentioned on her blog that she had a regular visitor from Ottawa and was curious to know who…I was mortified!!! Could she see me?!?!? Did my computer somehow leave a little note on hers that said “Gen was here and peeking into your life”?!?! How could the anonymity of cyberspace have betrayed me like that!?! As it turns out, my fingerprints hadn’t actually appeared on her screen…just my location and server!! But still…

Eventually, after about four months of leaving a little trail to her doorway for me…I left a comment on her blog about one of her post and just like that…we were fast friends! She had gained my trust and I no longer felt the need to hideout in her backyard…I was now ready to become a member of her blogging family!!

Over the past year, since Lesley helped me set up my own site meter (!!!), the tides have turned and I have noticed a few little visitors of my own. I have my “usual suspects” that have always made cyberspace feel like home and I even have some new members of the family that have joined in along the way but, there are still a handful of visitors that I just haven’t managed to lure into the house yet!! There is a long time visitor from Fort Worth Texas, a new visitor from Toronto using acanac.net, a cogeco user from Windsor (Aunt Diane…is that you?!?!), a number of Rogers Cable visitors, someone from the University of New Brunswick and my most intriguing…a guest from Hamilton, Bermuda using logic.bm (how fabulous!). It truly amazes me what (and who) technology has suddenly brought to our fingertips!

So, understanding how delicate this mysterious relationship can be…I don’t want to scare you off or anything but, after many weeks of watching you watching me…I invite you...

Or, for lack of a better expression…I guess we could say that the cat’s out of the bag…!!!