Good morning! Here’s hoping for a safe and happy 2015 to readers and followers alike!

On this last day of 2014, I’d like to take the time to thank my collection of loyal followers for a great blogging year. The folks at WordPress, the hosts of my blogsite, have provided me with an annual report. Though they made it possible for me to share that report in its entirety, I decided instead to highlight and share links to my favorite blogs and feature a gallery of my favorite photos of 2014. I won’t forget to share links to my most popular posts, just in case you missed them.

The raw numbers from the report were interesting, over 11,000 views, busiest day of which was March 10, with 227 views that day. The most popular post of the day featured a gallery of images from Carlsbad Caverns. You can review that blog post and view the gallery of images here.

Interestingly, four of the five most popular posts viewed in 2014 were all written in 2013. The report noted these stories have “staying power”. Of the top three, the number one post, uploaded in July 2013, features images taken on the Norwegian Pearl. I suspect this article is popular as people looking to cruise on the Pearl find my post when they “Google” the ship name. You can read the post and view the gallery of images here.

The second most popular post features a gallery of images taken at Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. I suspect this post is popular with cruisers “Google” searching for information on what to do in Puerto Chiapas. As it turns out, we found very little to do there. You can read the post and view the gallery of images here.

The third most popular post, also from 2013 features a story about a hike on South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona. When the weather is clear, which that day, it wasn’t, there are some spectacular views of the city along the National Trail. The trail, along with the detour via Fat Man Pass is one of my favorite hikes, and one Lynn and I have completed on several occasions. You can read the post and view the gallery of images here.

Of course, I have a personal favorite post from 2014. It features the beaches of Kauai, Hawaii. This post features two of my favorite images. You can read the post and view the gallery of images here.

When I started this blog, I had no expectation that there would be readers from all over the world. Obviously, most of my audience is from the US, but as this graphic from the report shows, any country shaded in a color other than white indicates at least one view from someone in that country. Of the people who follow my blog as a subscriber, the most followers I have from outside the US live in Canada, followed closely by Australia.

Most of my new followers are courtesy of the Weekly Photo Challenge. One of my most anticipated emails each Friday is the posting of the challenge for the week. I love featuring my work to a larger audience, the wide variety of bloggers who also submit photos to the challenge. My favorite photo challenge entry in 2014 is posted here.

2014 has been an eventful year for my wife and me. On February 1, while staying in Buckeye, Arizona for the winter, we got a call early in the morning from one of our neighbors in our condo building in Fargo, North Dakota. The call was not good news. A fire in the unit above us caused major damage and the loss of most of our personal belongings. We spent the summer with our travel schedule curtailed as I pretended to supervise the reconstruction of our unit. It took nearly 11 months for us to get back in our home again.

Since that week, I’ve learned that I need to forget what’s gone, appreciate what still remains and look forward to what’s coming next.

I submit for your review and approval, a gallery of my favorite images of 2014. Here’s hoping you have a safe and happy 2015! Click on any image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

John Steiner