Signing off For Lent

I can't remember if I've ever stopped blogging for Lent, but today-- just about an hour ago-- I decided I was going to do just that.

We're well into Lent already. I haven't really got into its spirit at all. I actually had an opportunity to attend a Lenten sort-of retreat, which would be the first spiritual retreat I'd attended since 2012, and something I really wanted to do. But circumstances militated against it.

Aside from the fact that we're supposed to enter into the spirit of Lent, I think it's good to have seasons of austerity-- some kind of austerity. (I'm never in the slightest danger of overdoing it.)

I've long observed that such seasons of austerity are remembered almost as fondly as seasons of celebration and feasting. Even a mild privation can throw a distinctive atmosphere over a period of time, perceived more in memory than at the time.

Not blogging is a real privation to me, even if it's not quite black tea and dry bread.

If you find yourself missing my posts (hey, it could conceivably happen), remember that I have a massive archive going back to 2011, at the bottom right of this screen (on the desktop version).

I asked Google Gemini to estimate how many words I've written on this blog. (I use A.I. sparingly, but it's good for that kind of query.) It answered:

Post Frequency: Since 2011, the blog has amassed over 1,400 posts (averaging roughly 100 posts per year).

Average Post Length: Most entries are thoughtful essays or commentary ranging from 500 to 1,500 words.

Total Estimated Word Count: It is highly likely the blog contains between 800,000 and 1.2 million words.

To put that in perspective, that’s roughly equivalent to reading the entire Harry Potter series or War and Peace twice over.

My Lenten cessation might not be absolute-- I reserve the right to break it for a good enough reason. Maybe on St. Patrick's Day, which is itself a traditional "break" in Lent in Ireland.

Or I might keep it going all the way to Easter Saturday.

Either way, I wish you all a fruitful Lent.