I Blog Therefore I Am~

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Holler Red Tail Hawk WM1 El Calafate Patagonia (Please click to enlarge photos) dsc04159

Barbary Ape Gibraltar DSC03891

Antarctica

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Banff Alberta

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Cinque Terre

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Holler Hummingbird DSC01489

Holler Rose

My closest neighbors are coyotes (packs and packs of them and they are HUNGRY), rattlers (lots and lots of them and they are MEAN), and free range cows/bulls (the bulls aren’t too friendly either).
Forget cell phones. They don’t work out here. Forget GPS, it misdirects.
It’s best not to wander too much out here, the people (and their dogs) are kinda twitchy.

To reach The Holler turn right at the reeking chicken farm, proceed down a bunch of pot-holed semi-streets/dirt roads, past the abandoned refrigerators and occupied old RV’s and then things get kinda dicey.
My friends usual reaction to the trip to The Holler is, “You’ve got to be kidding!” Or, “Next time let’s meet half way.”

This is our little bit of heavenly Appalachia right here in rural California.
I like to write and if something strikes my fancy, usually something odd or unusual, you will learn about it here. And thankfully, at The Holler, almost everyday is odd and unusual. So “Holler Happenings” including photos of flowers, birds, and wild animal interactions, are included.

I travel three-four months a year so you will find my photos of locales from all over the world. The good, bad, and the better.
So put your feet up and let’s devote our attention to the best things in life,  the things we want to do.
To start here are some links:

Pinterest page:

Goodreads page,
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5908500-cindy-knoke

And “about me” before I retired and commenced this life of leisure:

http://www.xing.com/profile/Cindy_BartonLCSW

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/cindy-knoke-lcsw/4a/51b/b12

Cheers & Welcome!
Cindy Knoke
(AKA-Cindy Barton LCSW)

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.  You are welcome to use photos, but please site the source. Thank you!

1,011 thoughts on “I Blog Therefore I Am~”

  1. Great to meet you Cindy. I envy your lifestyle out in the “hollers”…I’d much rather deal with coyotes than traffic in the city! Thanks for visiting and following my blog…yours is awesome!

    Reply

        1. WP hobgooblins at work no doubt! It is wonderful to meet you and yes WP frequently erases likes which is frustrating, but now I am off to visit your blog. Cheers & thank you~

          Reply

  5. Dear sister Cindy

    Thank you so much for visiting,liking my posts and also following my blog. It was such an honor for me.I really fall in love with your marvelous photos 🙂 Thank you and blessings.
    Karina

    Reply

  11. Cindy, I thank you for following my blog. After looking at a hand-full of items on your blog, I am truly humbled. About 10 years from now, I hope to be in the position to do the kind of blogging you are doing now. Presently, I still have five teenager daughters to get out of the house!

    Thanks again, and stop by anytime. The welcome mat is always out!

    Reply

    1. Five teenagers are a tad distracting I’ll admit. It will be interesting to see if they are interested in your blog!!! Laughing! Your blog is awesome already, in ten years it will be a phenomona!!! 🙂

      Reply

  16. Thank you for the “like” and follow, Cindy (my old and intimate friends call me Cindy, too). I’ve really enjoyed visiting here. I live in a rural area of Maine, though not as “elementary” as where you are…I am a homebody who loves to travel vicariously…so I will be back to see what you’re up to!

    Reply

  21. I thought I have liked this page but did not to my horror discovery! I have the memory that I have read this page about two years ago. It is a very nice to read and good visualization blog! Some of the photos are just amazing =)! By the way, I have a question, you mean you live in Holler in Luxembourg? Because you speak Deutsch or probably French too. I did not visit Luxembourg during my about 10 years stay in Europe, what a pity.

    It is always nice to have you visiting my blog, and thank you so much!

    Reply

    1. Hi there! I am an admirer of your beautiful poetry. I live in California in the an unpopulated, rural area. I travel a lot and post during my travels so people often think I am from the country I am posting about. Luxenbourg is lovely, but so small. You can visit the next time you go. Thanks so much for stopping by~

      Reply

  23. Hello Cindy…

    I was recently ‘told off’ by a blogger (not a follower I might add), who said my style of ‘welcome’ note was very much against blogging etiquette. Hmm, well I hope not to cause offence, but as you volunteered to become a follower of Uncle Spike’s Adventures, I just wanted to catch up and say “thank you, and that I appreciate your ‘follow’ as there are so many interesting and entertaining blogs out there.

    Blogging since June 2013, my aim is to deliver an eclectic offering of posts, from my ‘point n shoot’ attempts at basic photography, to the sharing of my travel adventures over the decades, as well as day to day happenings here on our farm in Turkey. Oh, plus a few observations, opinions and lighter-hearted stuff thrown in for good measure.

    I normally keep to a couple of posts a day, maybe 3-4 at weekends if I have something special to share. But if you are at a loose end one day, maybe you’ll enjoy trawling through some of my older stuff too. I have added plenty of categories to help in said digging process. That’s not me trying to be pushy or ‘spamming’, but just want you to know what I’m all about.

    Thanks again and hope you have a great day…

    UNCLE SPIKE

    Reply

    1. One of the cool things about blogging is you can do whatever the heck you want!!! 😉 Phooey on the blogger who said your intro violated etiquette. I have no knowledge of any blogging etiquette and don’t want any! I remember when I started my blog and read WP’s ‘tips for a successful blog.’ I promptly violated all of them. Never was one to like directions!!! 😎

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      1. Like it, like it…. I’m happy to follow protocol in general, if there is one, and if it is predominantly sensible. But writing to folk who have just ‘volunteered’ to become a follower of your blog is hardly hard-selling / cold-calling. Anyway… I had the last chuckle; the guys blog was pretty lame, with low hits and few followers – cheered me up no end, lol

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  24. Hi there Cindy, I like your quote “Civilization creates such discontent.” You have such a lovely blog filled with life, beauty and love (ɔ◔‿◔)ɔ ♥! Thanks for dropping by and following my blog. Blessings & peace, Pat (>‿◠)✌

    Reply

  29. Hi,

    I just found your blog and wanted to ask if you would be interested in providing a guest post for our site, Retirement And Good Living (http://retirementandgoodliving.com) about your retirement and travels.

    Over 200 guests from around the globe contributed posts to our blog in the last year.

    Please send me an email fi interested and I will forward additional information.

    Thanks,

    Simone Harrison

    Reply

  31. Wonderful photos! My favorite places are away from the crowds. I lived in Georgia for a while and raised a few chickens and ducks and the coyotes loved my place. Also have a small farm in Thailand in the central mountains but don’t have any mammals to worry about. Your Holler sounds great.

    Reply

  36. Cindy, duuno if Greenpeace inks will come through … but be forewarned, they do beg for $, not just petition signatures.

    Greenpeace http://us.greenpeace.org/site/R?i=TOJDepwvLtjV3gd-KwL8aw

    It’s crazy but true: Shell and other companies alike are now allowed to harass Pacific walruses. At least that’s what the U.S. Fish & Wildlife recently ruled — and the agency acknowledged that walruses could likely be affected adversely in crucial habitat areas like the Hanna Shoal in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea.

    This is unacceptable — nearly the entire population of Pacific walrus depends on the Chukchi Sea during the early spring and summer months. If Shell gets away with drilling in the Arctic, the walruses and their habitat will be extremely vulnerable to a large oil spill.

    Greenpeace can’t and won’t rest until Shell’s plans to drill and harm the Arctic are scrapped for good — which is why I’m calling on you today. Can you join me, and support our work to defend the Arctic and the environment against this destruction by making a donation today?

    Reply

    1. Yes, I will join you. I support Greenpeace fully. Walrus are already under grave threat due to disappearance of polar ice sheets, I saw photos of them clumping in masses on the shore because there is no ice for them to be on. This development is so pathetic, sad and stupid. Thank you for letting me know~

      Reply

  39. Hi Cindy, I wish to arrange a trip to see you and visit the zoo next year for a weekend. Let me know if it works for you I know you travel a Lot 🙂

    Reply

    1. I would love to have you to The Holler and go to the Wild Animal Park with you! What fun!! Let me know when you are planning to visit. Send me an email re: dates as I don’t want to post my, or your, travel schedule online. Would love this!

      Reply

  41. Hello, Cindy! I just wanted to say thank you for following my blog and stop by to visit yours! I love photography. You have a beautiful blog!

    I would like to be a psychologist, one day. I am currently in my second year of college. But I worked for the state of Oklahoma for five years with teenagers recovering from addiction.

    Now, I would like to do two things:

    1) Revolutionize psychiatric treatment when it comes to our children.

    2) On my own rehabilitation center for adolescents with co-occurring disorders and addictions.

    A pleasure to “e-meet” you! ❤️

    Reply

    1. Welcome & good for you! I wish you much luck and encourage you to stick with your education, it will be finished faster than it seems right now, and prepare yourself for a most rewarding career! Your goals sound very interesting. Best of luck and great to meet you~

      Reply

      3. Actually you can get really good clicks with your iphone. I still don’t have a expensive camera. New technologies make cheaper cameras really good. So, why not give it a whirl!!

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  43. Hi Cindy, many thanks for visiting my blog and liking my latest post. I love yours and your amazing photography of the holler, nature and leisurely pursuits as you call them! Am so envious. Take care and I’ll be dropping in often 🙂

    Reply

    1. You are most welcome, I will read your posts and evaluate ongoing. No-expectations from me. From what I have seen of your blog, you are a force of creative talent! Wonderful! Blogs allow us to express ourselves freely. Blogging is a democracy where we are free to express ourselves, and follow or not as we see fit. Don’t worry about my expectations, just meet your own.

      Reply

  47. You deserve your retirement, no doubt! Tell you what, you jogged my memory when you mentioned packs of coyotes. I used to work on the edge of the sonoran desert when I lived in Surprise, Phoenix. while I was in Uni. They were always around as well as some rattlers and related darlings. lol I got so used to wildlife over there and coming back to England, found myself completed unconcerned about any kind of wildlife (mostly spiders and ants) here. I actually find it quite boring in that respect. 😀

    Reply

    1. I know exactly what you mean! If I go somewhere that doesn’t have wildlife, I’m bored. They add a certain interest to living. It is like living with mostly polite, but very wild neighbors. Come to think of it, I have had some human neighbors like this, nix the polite part!!! 😉

      Reply

  49. Cindy, I just took another tour of your place and got all caught up. It is always inspiring. So many people have no idea about the beauty in this world. Thank you for sharing what you experience.
    I think I asked before, but don’t remember an answer…what camera do you use?
    Take care and keep sharing your joy.
    Patti

    Reply

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