2026 A to Z Reflections #AtoZChallenge

It's time to reflect on my experience in the 2026 Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Along with many other bloggers, I participated in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge this past April  I've done this Challenge successfully every April starting in 2015, missing only 2025 because, well, life happened.   What happened also made the 2026 Challenge more difficult than previous Challenges but I had the time and energy this year.  Last year, it never would have happened.

Life lesson:  never take anything for granted.  Life is fragile and can change in an instant.

Many of us assign a theme for the month and yes, I did, also.  Mine was: beauty of our land.  

If anything, I appreciate the beauty around me even more than in the past.  I am a digital photo hoarder (I may have passed the 20,000 mark on my phone recently-I'm almost afraid to look) and going through my photos to choose the ones I would post this past April brought back so many memories.

Good memories.

Good memories sustain us for the hard times, and also make us realize that beauty still exists even if we are not in a mindset to enjoy it.  It will be there for when we can be receptive enough to enjoy it.

So, looking at these photos also made me feel, once again, gratitude.  Gratitude for the blogging community I discovered, after nearly two years of blogging, when I participated in my first blogging challenge (not A to Z) back in 2011.  Gratitude for the blogs I read regularly and for the blogs I discover each year of the A to Z Challenge.

We are asked to answer some questions.  I'll put them at the end so if you weren't part of the Challenge, you can skip them, but I'll answer one up front so you don't have to wade through questions and answers that don't interest you.

I won't name the blogs, as I don't want to leave anyone out.

So, how am I feeling?  Tired.  I pre-wrote many of the posts, but still had to scramble towards the end.  But then again, I wasn't the only one.

In reflecting, I also decided I would not go back to daily blogging like I did for so many years, but it's good to know I still have it in me to do that.

Finally....

Today is a special one year anniversary in my life.  

So, to any new bloggers who discovered me during the Challenge, thank you.  And, if you are a regular reader, thank you, too.

I appreciate all of you.

And now the questions and my answers in red

Our team theme this year was: A is for Aspirations: Blogging hopes, dreams, and goals

Do you feel like our team's posts from this month met your expectations for that theme?  True confession: I didn't read the team's posts.  

While you reflect on your blog's April Challenge posts, please consider this:

• How do you feel about the Theme Reveal? (Especially if this is not your first year doing the Challenge.). I always find it helpful; I base some of the blogs I will read on their reveals.
• In what ways does the reflection post help you? It helps me look back on the month, something that's impossible to do in the midst of the Challenge.
• What experiences have you had in the past, or hope to have this year, with the Road Trip? I haven't taken the Road Trip in the past; I don't plan to this year.
• Does the HTML on the badges/ graphics page help you? Yes.
• Did you meet your blogging goals in April? Yes.
• What were your top five favorite blogs from the challenge to visit in April this year? I choose not to reveal them because several common blogging genres don't interest me at all and I'm sure my subject matter isn't universally loved, either.
• Did a co-host (J Lenni Dorner, Arlee Bird, Zalka Csenge Virág, John Holton, Jayden R Vincente, or Ronel Janse van Vuuren) comment on your blog during the challenge? Yes.
• Is there a comment you received on your blog in April that is your favorite? I don't rate my commenters; I appreciate everyone who takes the time to visit and comment.
• Who were your top comment-leavers this challenge, and did they do the challenge? Hard to say because some of my favorite bloggers were those I met through the challenge -some years back, some recently, and some don't do the Challenge every year. Some didn't do it this year but still read my blog.  
• Is your blog open to comments from everyone, or only comments from those who "sign in" to the platform?  Open to everyone, although I moderate posts and therefore they may not be published for hours or even the next day.
• Do you feel this helps or hurts your blogging comment goals? I have no blogging goals other than making myself happy.  I don't blog for revenue or to promote a business.  If I didn't enjoy blogging, I wouldn't do it.

• • Are there any other blog hops you regularly take part in? Yes, all my current blogging involves participating in blog hops: Music Moves Me, Wordless Wednesday, Skywatch Friday, Shadowshot Sunday, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
  • Did you discover anything interesting because of the Challenge? Yes.
  • Will you plan to do the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge in 2027, and why (or why not)? That will depend on my personal situation in 2027.  I had to sit 2025 out due to the fickle finger of fate saying otherwise.  Life is always uncertain.
  • Will you recommend this blog hop to others? Yes.
  • If RoadTrippers only visit one of your Challenge posts, which would you suggest and why? (This question is also the prompt if you create a RoadTrip post.). 
  • Do you plan to visit the A to Z site every month? No although I may drop in from time to time..
  • The site gets many hits, even in the off-season!
  • Did you refer someone to hope to win a guest post spot? No, because what would I say? 
  • What else could the team offer you to persuade you to encourage others to join the challenge? Perhaps come back and ask me that next year.

Feelin' Alright? #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music. Sadly, it's also time for another induction (actually, three inductions) into Rock and Roll Heaven.

Who are the Music Moves Me bloggers?  We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join!  We are brought to you by Cathy of Curious as a Cathy, Stacy of Stacy's Random Thoughts, Marie, and myself, plus other music loving bloggers.  

Why not join us?  Our theme for this week is "you pick".

Dave Mason, a founding member of the group Traffic, died on April 19 at the age of 79.  He was a singer, guitarist, and songwriter. 

Here is one of his songs with Traffic:  Feelin' Alright? performed by Traffic.  You may recognize it from a cover by Joe Cocker in 1969.

Dave Mason also enjoyed a solo career.  This is a 1977 hit from Mason:  We Just Disagree. 

Nedra (I've also seen it spelled Niedra) Yvonne Talley-Ross, last surviving member of the Ronettes, also died on April 27 at the age of 80.

Here is their hit song Be My Baby. 

Country singer/songwriter David Allan Coe died April 30 at the age of 86.  Some of the hits he wrote are known even by non-country music fans, such as Johnny Paycheck's 1977 hit Take This Job and Shove It. 

Finally, because this is (the way we write dates in the United States) May the 4th, we informally are celebrating May The Fourth be With You, so I can't resist this Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band theme.  Enjoy!

And that's a wrap! 

Oh, wait.  One more thing.  How am I feeling?  All right? Actually, tired, after a month of daily blogging in April.  But now, I am going to return to my normal Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday schedule, except for tomorrow.

If you followed the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I invite you to tune in tomorrow for my Reflections post.

Join me next week for another episode of Music Moves Me. 

Crabapples and Tulips #ShadowshotSunday

Crabapple shadows from April 27.

Three small tulips all in a row in my front yard.  The name is long forgotten.  

Joining Lisa at This and That: A Blog, for her #ShadowshotSunday.
 

 

Grey Skies Coming Our Way #SkywatchFriday

 Whew!  It's May 1st.

Now I can rest. The Blogging from A to Z Challenge is over (except for my Reflections post next week) and I can get back to watching the skies.

But the skies lately, where I live in the Southern Tier of New York, haven't been too sunny and blue recently.  So, for May Day, I bring you these.

Yes, these are color pictures.

April 21. 

April 30. 

April 30. 

Contrast with this picture from April 27. 

After warmer than normal temperatures, we are going to return to cooler temperatures.  We may even have a frost next week (which would be a disaster for our local apple crop). 

I was going to show you some lovely spring pictures but maybe I'll get back to the beauty of spring next week.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.
 

Zinnias #AtoZChallenge

I've reached the finish line!  I have completed the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Because my theme was Beauty of our Land, I decided to do one more flower post, this time of the Zinnia.  

For this post, I've taken some of my favorite zinnia photos.  I used to grow them, but I didn't last year, and probably won't this year.   I try to grow them at my house but the seedlings somehow get eaten.  I've grown them in the past at a local community garden, but we have given up our plots for now.

Most of these Zinnias are mine.  I think the two butterfly photos may have been taken at a garden in Binghamton, New York back in 2023. 

Yellow speckled with red.

Bee on zinnia.

Yes, there are green zinnias.

Speckled.

Swallowtail butterfly.

Monarch butterfly.

White and orange.

Not sure what to call this.

The grand finale.  I hope you've enjoyed my offerings this Challenge.  I will probably, after Thursday, go back to my usual schedule and I hope you'll join me at any or all of the below:

Mondays:  Music Moves Me

Wednesday:  Wordless Wednesday

Friday:  Skywatch Friday

Sunday:  Shadowshot Sunday. 

And, probably May 5, my Reflections post for A to Z. 

Z Day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  My theme: Beauty of our Land.

Congratulations to everyone who finished the Challenge.   Join us from May 4-9 for our Reflections posts.

 

Yale (Dinosaurs) #AtoZChallenge #WordlessWednesday

Once again, I have a two meme day.  First, Wordless Wednesday, brought to us by Sandee at Comedy Plus (for the link, please see bottom of post). Also, it's Y day in the Blogging from A To Z Challenge.  Two memes for the price of one.

In 2024, my spouse and I visited Yale University.  Visiting their Peabody Museum has been a bucket list item for my spouse since childhood, when he became interested in dinosaurs.  Dinosaurs are one of the specialties of this free to the public museum.

Yale Peabody Museum sign.

Life size Torosaurus latus dinosaur statue outside the museum. There were plans to erect a garden next to this with plants that grew during the times this dinosaur existed when this was erected in 2005, but if they did, I didn't see signs of it.

Dinosaur Skeleton.

Skeleton and architecture.

The building the Peabody Museum is in.  This is a fantastic museum, as you might expect from a world class university.

I have more pictures, many of them not related to dinosaurs.  Maybe one day I'll publish some more on my blog. Y not?

Y Day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme: Beauty of our Land.

Sandee's Comedy Plus: 

 

Xanthic #AtoZChallenge

X, for me, is the hardest letter of the alphabet in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  I think all of us A to Zers struggle with this letter.  I've used this particular X word (xanthic) too many times but it is perfect for spring. There are so many yellow flowers associated with spring where I live: tulips.  Daffodils.  Forsythia.  And even more.

So, I'm revisiting the topic of Xanthic.  Or, in plainer language, Yellow, especially related to flowers.

The dictionary defines xanthic as yellow, or yellow-like.  That works for me, because I have lots of yellow flowers to show you from this spring.  Some are still blooming.

Euphorbia, my yard, April 26.  

Tulips, neighborhood, April 22.  I like photographing them from above to get the interior in the picture.

Barrenwort, my yard, April 14.

Yellow daffodil, my yard, April 22.

Fringed yellow tulip, my yard.  I only had one of these beauties come up this year.

Short tulip, variety long forgotten, my yard, April 23.  Now, isn't that Xciting?
 

X day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.  Now off to see how others conquered X.