7-27-09 Comments are always appreciated.

I was receiving comments about my attire, or lack thereof, on the Crawford Path back in June.

I’ve been getting a flurry of good, solid comments from readers about the blog. It’s exciting, humbling, gratifying and, at the same time, really helpful. Up ‘til now I haven’t considered how to deal with comments. From the very beginning I wanted the blog to be interactive and inclusive. The comments I’ve received so far all contribute to the inclusiveness so I’ve been trying to think how to bring them into the content. There are three different types: exclamations (like: “Great Blog”) and then questions and information sharing. The exclamations are really appreciated but I will leave them out of the longer narrative. So it’s the questions and information sharing that are important because they inform and clarify.

Information sharing is crucial. For instance, I want readers to feel free to correct any mistakes they find. Here are two examples. A reader by the name of “Ari” has twice, now, corrected mistakes regarding geography and a trail name. So that’s crucial. “Elizabeth” pointed out that I had the wrong Latin name for the Beech fern and that's also crucial . The Latin names are important because they're the scientific names of the plants and contribute accuracy and I want the blog to be as accurate as possible. I can’t emphasize enough that I prize any and all comments that will contribute to accuracy and, by the way, thanks to both Ari and Elizabeth for being so attentive.

“Jon” wrote last week about the story I am beginning about bushwhacking up to a summit that doesn’t seem to have a name that may be an extension of North Twin Mt. Jon wrote that he had quite a bit of info about that peak and was willing to share it with me if I wanted it. He was concerned that I might want to explore it on my own which was thoughtful. My response, Jon, is that I would like to see the info you have when you have some time and can send it. That’s a good example of how I want the blog to function. Thanks for asking first Jon.

“Sandy”, another reader, sent a valuable comment on the Tannin in Stream Water piece. His comments are also scientific and contribute to accuracy but are a little long. So I’m thinking about how I can integrate that kind of material into what has already been written: do I save it in case the discussion is revisited, or edit it and insert it into the past discussion?

This is important. I’ll look and ask around and figure out a way to incorporate all of the material. One solution could be a “questions and comments” page as well as an “op-ed” page on a regular basis. If readers have comments they want to be personal they can simply tell me.