Bloggers Will Be Bloggers
Our regional blogger meet-up at the Café Del Sol – called together because fellow-blogger Terri Dulong was in town – came and went like a whirlwind that left my head spinning. At one point I counted 8 bloggers (all talking at once), 9 if you count Bernie, who made a brief appearance and who doesn’t really have a blog but gets mentioned on Floyd blogs a lot.
The first thing I noticed upon meeting Terri was her Massachusetts accent and that her hair wasn’t blonde. I don’t know why I thought it was. Terri grew up north of Boston, Massachusetts, and I grew up in the South Shore of the same city. Her neighbors for part of the year in Cedar Key, where she currently lives, are Floydians who I know. It was only a matter of time before we would meet.
Terri was asking me how I came to live in Floyd. There was a birthday party going on at the table behind us. Rio was carving a pumpkin at the outside table in front of the Café. Hugs were exchanged. Lattes were ordered. I caught a glimpse of Jamie once out of the corner of my eye.
I think it was me that broke the ice and snapped the first picture. You know how bloggers like to record events? Snapping cameras in all directions soon followed.
Fred had to leave early. So did Gretchen and David. Deana made it up the mountain from Stuart, and Doug arrived late. After about 45 minutes, when the hubbub died down, Terri, Deana, and I set up our lap top stations and made the whole meet-up official.
Only another blogger knows what a blogger feels like when she’s been away from home and hasn’t been able to blog or even get online for days. 
Poor Terri ended up booking a cabin in Floyd county way off the beaten track with no internet access or cell phone signal… not to mention the winding gravel country roads that she isn’t used to.
Deana was showing me how to upload video clips onto my blog, when I looked over and saw Terri. She was in deep concentration while her fingers were tapping a flurry of typing. “Look, she’s blogging this!” I said to Deana.
HERE is what The Island Writer, Terri, had to say. She’ll have more Floyd tales to spin (a pun on the beautiful yarn she purchased here) in the upcoming days, I’m sure.
Photos: 1. Terri Dulong at the Cafe Del Sol. 2. Gretchen and David St. Lawrence, Deana, and Terri. 3. Terri, Deana, and Colleen. You can read about our past blogger meet-ups HERE and HERE.
October 13th, 2006 9:37 am
I tell you what we are some cute bloggers!
What a great place you have at Cafe Del Sol….it was so nice meeting other bloggers. But especially Terri, and she is SOOOO nice. Just talking away in that thick accent! I felt like I’d known her for years.
I can only imagine the tales she is going to have after all her isolation.
Thank you again, so very much, for inviting me. As always it is a delight to see you!
October 13th, 2006 9:54 am
What fun! I have yet to meet another blogger face-to-face, but have enjoyed meeting everyone online.
October 13th, 2006 9:56 am
looks like a lot of fun, colleen! i keep saying that i’m going to start a blog- i might actually follow through one of these days. my family is spread out all over and it would be a nice way to keep up with daily goings-on. i’m still a little nervous about the whole pictures and personal info online thing, though, especially with a young son.
October 13th, 2006 10:33 am
Sounds like you all had a great time Colleen. Think it is great to meet the folks we exchange comments with on our blogs. The smiling faces say it all.
October 13th, 2006 10:57 am
I think it would be so interesting to meet other bloggers, those whom you read and feel as if you are getting to know. I wonder though if it is strange to then blog after the meeting of these friends? Does it change your posts with them in mind? I just have wondered if meeting the bloggers change the blog.
Maybe it’s just me.
October 13th, 2006 11:12 am
you’re gatherings make us “solo” bloggers envious!
October 13th, 2006 11:40 am
Wish I knew more bloggers I could actually meet but there seem to be fewer and are really spread out in The Great White North of Canada!
October 13th, 2006 6:10 pm
Hey Colleen (And Deana, if you’re reading this) “I” am back among civilization again…with a bonafide wireless signal here at the hotel in St. George, SC.
If you got the message I left on your home phone this morning, Colleen, you know the cold got to me last night and we decided to check out of the cottage a day early and head home. So we’re here tonight and will be back on the island tom. afternoon.
It was SOOOO great to meet all of you! And thank you to all of you for coming to the Cafe…I enjoyed it so much. Both you and Deana were exactly as I thought you’d be and I felt like I’d known you forever….and to the commenter here…Meeting you guys won’t change my blogging content at all. I’m an up front kinda person anyway,..lol
I have loads of photos to share and MEGA reflections, comments, etc, on our trip…so I’ll catch you all on my blog after I get home and get settled in. I must say….meeting you guys and actually BEING at the Cafe del Sol was the highlight of my trip….it was so much fun! Talk to you soon.
October 13th, 2006 7:06 pm
Colleen, my dear…I got a call from Terri this morning and she told me she had no signal there in Floyd…That’s what I thought! (You had said she had no message from me…but, she heard it this A.M. in their car, once she got a signal…)
Anyway, it sounds like you all had a grand time! I’m so happy for all of you and sad that I could not find that other phone number, so I could have said HI to you and Terri and Deana, too! It just wasn’t meant to be, I guess!(LOL)’ Looking forward to seeing her pictures, too!
I think it is so lovely that Bloggers are meeting and greeting “in Person”, don’t you?
October 13th, 2006 7:30 pm
Deana says: “I felt like I’d known her for years.”
Hi Colleen and fellow bloggers,
I think what Deana says is what is so nice about blogging. It becomes a network of like minded indiviuals sharing bits of themselves. Even when the topics are different, and they always are, there is a sense of connectedness.
I love blogging too!
October 13th, 2006 11:20 pm
Terri, it’s going to get even colder tonight! You were smart to head south. It was short, but I know you’ll be back, and chances are good that we’ll be there this winter. I have a plan to meet with Ginnie of Golden Daze next Friday…as she’s passing through. I love to meet bloggers. I think we have a lot in common by the fact that we blog and it’s, you know…like a support group! I like to meet people that I wouldn’t normally come in contact with and it’s always nice to discover that we are all more alike than we are different.
So sorry we missed your call, Naomi. We did bring you into the conversation!
October 13th, 2006 11:53 pm
What fun! I’ve gotten to meet lots of bloggers of the past couple of years, and have gotten extra close to a few. It looks like you had a blast. In a sense, we have a regular meetup every weekend over at Michele’s. She sent me over here, and I’m glad she did! Have a great weekend!
October 14th, 2006 12:02 am
Looks like fun! I have never met any bloggers that I didn’t know in real life first. I think it would be cool!
October 14th, 2006 12:41 pm
What fun! I have met only one fellow blogger. How cute you all took your laptops to the meet-up! thanks for sharing such fun moments, it’s something we all want to experience!
October 15th, 2006 12:09 pm
I love where you talk about being away from home and not being able to Blog. Blogging sometimes feels like must be DONE everyday… but in a GREAT way. Like breathing. Must get at least a little itty bitty post written every single day.