{"id":40944,"date":"2026-01-30T00:24:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T05:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/?p=40944"},"modified":"2026-01-29T21:25:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T02:25:36","slug":"guten-tag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/2026\/01\/guten-tag\/","title":{"rendered":"Guten tag"},"content":{"rendered":"

I like<\/em> this title, because if you try to pronounce it correctly, you’re mispronouncing it. Which is because it’s time (finally!) for the annual tag roundup! Tags are those little reference words at the bottom of the post to help you know what the content is and save you the trouble of actually reading the post, unless you have a poster of a certain nature, in which case they are also snotty commentary on the content, or highly questionable humor, or some obscure reference that only thirteen people in the world (none of them readers of course) would recognize. And each year, we choose a small selection of the tags that have only appeared once and recognize why<\/em> they have only appeared once. It’s also a subtle (not really) way of drawing people back into older posts. With that warning being all that’s required by law, let’s plunge ahead, shall we?<\/p>\n

probably get hit by a meteorite<\/a> – The law of averages needs better enforcement, I’m thinking.<\/p>\n

it’s not just a phase mom<\/a> – The family photos that soon get hidden away.<\/p>\n

Spanish moss? How dated!<\/a> – Some redecorating did indeed take place, and we’re fine with that.<\/p>\n

right on prom night<\/a> – Seriously, don’t pick at them.<\/p>\n

fussy fussy fussy<\/a> – along with, “need more spiders,” and, “or maybe slugs.” Perhaps a little forewarning is in order. And a slick watermark.<\/p>\n

really really questionable definition of humor<\/a> – Along with, “samson was a fat fuck.” I blame my parents…<\/p>\n

hopped up on corn dust<\/a> – Some have to ham it up for the camera. Not me<\/em><\/a>, of course…<\/p>\n

yes that was on purpose<\/a> – Okay, probably not subtle at all.<\/p>\n

licking her will get you nowhere<\/a> – Also, “or Out of Africa<\/em>.” I’ve nothing to add here.<\/p>\n

the water was cold<\/a> – Excuses, excuses.<\/p>\n

awwww<\/a> – It says quite a bit, I think, that such a tag has only appeared once, but I’ll try to remedy that.<\/p>\n

Hey Sailor<\/a> – Also, “booty call.” Worse than trying to study in college with a ‘popular’ roommate…<\/p>\n

I just don’t choose to<\/a> – I mean, give me a real<\/em> challenge…<\/p>\n

puppy dog eyes<\/a> – You should know by now this is a setup.<\/p>\n

do you recognize this skin?<\/a> – As well as, “you silly man.” Listen, you’re not going to get better warnings than these.<\/p>\n

just the one taking the pictures<\/a> – It’s journalism<\/em>…<\/p>\n

chili I could see<\/a> – I mean, sure, even if we’re only talking about what provoked it…<\/p>\n

but the brow’s about right<\/a> – I’m not that limp-wristed, though. Not that there’s anything wrong<\/em> with that…<\/p>\n

Unimportus bloggeri<\/em><\/a> – Or perhaps, Daguerrotypus creeperi<\/em>. I don’t know, have at it…<\/p>\n

Now, we take a look at the ‘special’ holidays that we all celebrated<\/em> this year (right?)<\/p>\n

\nLock Teasers Day<\/strong><\/a>, January 9th<\/sup>
\nIf It Goes Another Day You\u2019re A Worthless Excuse For An Amateur Naturalist<\/strong><\/a>, February 18th<\/sup>
\nMake Noticeable Progress on a Project Day<\/strong><\/a>, March 29th<\/sup>
\nOvercome Absurd Obstacles Day<\/strong><\/a>, April 24th<\/sup>
\nDumfroot Spaglokkit, the inventor of shutter lag<\/strong><\/a>, May 25th<\/sup>
\nIs that…? No… Is It? Day<\/strong><\/a>, June 18th<\/sup>
\nCreate Meaningless Content Day<\/strong><\/a>, July 29th<\/sup>
\nNow You Know It Could Be Worse Day<\/strong><\/a>, September 24th<\/sup>
\nInternational Enough is Enough Day<\/strong><\/a>, October 27th<\/sup>
\nHarvest The First Of The Citrus From The Greenhouse Day<\/strong><\/a>, November 16th<\/sup> (you should know that we still haven’t picked the last yet.)
\nQuestion The Value Of One’s Own Judgment Day<\/strong><\/a>, December 29th<\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What, no August? No, no holiday for August last year, strange as that may seem. Perhaps there will be two this year…<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, if you want to check out the previous tag roundups, well, they’d be found here:<\/strong><\/p>\n

2015:<\/strong> Tagged<\/a>
\n2016:<\/strong> Tagged again<\/a>
\n2017:<\/strong> Papa\u2019s got a brand new tag<\/a>
\n2018:<\/strong> So what did 2017 hold?<\/a>
\n2019:<\/strong> Do not read tag under penalty of law<\/a>
\n2020:<\/strong> Tagginses! We hates it forever!<\/a>
\n2021:<\/strong> Tag ’em and bag ’em<\/a>
\n2022:<\/strong> I don\u2019t mean to tag, but\u2026<\/a>
\n2023:<\/strong> Tag me with a spoon<\/a>
\n2024:<\/strong> You\u2019re a Grand Ol\u2019 Tag<\/a>
\n2025:<\/strong> Something tagged this way comes<\/a><\/p>\n

Man, I’m glad I can just copy and paste most of that from the previous year…<\/p>\n

\"siteWe brought the site stats up much, much better in 2025, with a post count of 260 (coming in third behind 2021 and 2022,) and a word count of 172,384, about average, bringing the total for the life of the blog up to 2,573,954.<\/p>\n

But the image count was a new record at 1,123, beating out 2021’s total by 86 images, and I can confidently say the credit for this is due to Walkabout Estates Plus itself, brimming with photo subjects as it is. We did no special trips last year at all, being too busy with both selling the previous Walkabout Manor and doing work on the current one, so the vast majority of those images was within walking distance of the door. May had a total of 171 images uploaded by itself, though this still didn’t beat October 2020’s record for a month at 192.<\/p>\n

Also worthy of noting was video<\/a> uploads, coming in at 35<\/strong> for last year alone, thanks to mostly the wood ducks and the nutrias. It was never my intention to branch out into videography seriously, because it’s more of an investment in time and equipment and so on – I just want to be able to capture behavior when it seems appropriate, but the opportunities have abounded this year, so here we are.<\/p>\n

2025 was also a year of remarkable progress, especially when I look at posts from the beginning of the year. Then, I was speculating about whether I’d have to build a blind to even see<\/em> the wood ducks from a distance, and whether or not they’d have the faintest interest in the nest box we constructed, as well as how much effort it would take to get better shots or video of the beavers, the first of which I’d captured in February<\/a>. The year closed with not just evidence of the nest box in use, but multiple broods of wood ducks coming up into the yard, and beavers coming virtually right to my feet – as well as the discovery of nutrias visiting, then expanding to a brood of five young (and two adults) making themselves at home with inordinate boldness. Not to mention a snake battle to the death<\/a> literally, actually, at my feet…<\/p>\n

\"mother
It is safe to say, I am in my element, and I’m incredibly lucky to have The Girlfriend, who shares in (most of) my enthusiasm for all the critters to be found – as well as making the move to the new Walkabout Estates even possible, it must be said. 2026 is also off to a fierce start – I have umpteen video clips to edit together into a coherent whole, and keep adding to them, so those will be along eventually.<\/p>\n

All in all, I can’t complain, and can’t feel like I’ve been slack. As always, we’ll see what the future holds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I like this title, because if you try to pronounce it correctly, you’re mispronouncing it. Which is because it’s time (finally!) for the annual tag roundup! Tags are those little reference words at the bottom of the post to help you know what the content is and save you the trouble of actually reading the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1903,6,12],"tags":[4948,8119,8230,7876,8333,8209,6785,7961,8231,8408,7828,8199,8016,8189,1788,7963,7964,8190,7889,8356,8299,7792,8298,8004,8353,8332,4947,7897,8208],"class_list":["post-40944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-because","category-humor","category-random","tag-aix-sponsa","tag-awwww","tag-booty-call","tag-but-the-brows-about-right","tag-chili-i-could-see","tag-do-you-recognize-this-skin","tag-ducklings","tag-fussy-fussy-fussy","tag-hey-sailor","tag-hopped-up-on-corn-dust","tag-i-just-dont-choose-to","tag-its-not-just-a-phase-mom","tag-just-the-one-taking-the-pictures","tag-licking-her-will-get-you-nowhere","tag-meaningless-statistics","tag-need-more-spiders","tag-or-maybe-slugs","tag-or-out-of-africa","tag-probably-get-hit-by-a-meteorite","tag-puppy-dog-eyes","tag-really-really-questionable-definition-of-humor","tag-right-on-prom-night","tag-samson-was-a-fat-fuck","tag-spanish-moss-how-dated","tag-the-water-was-cold","tag-unimportus-bloggeri","tag-wood-duck","tag-yes-that-was-on-purpose","tag-you-silly-man"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40944"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40956,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40944\/revisions\/40956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wading-in.net\/walkabout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}