I'm saddened by the loss of my original online family home. I liked the diversity of the various blogs. Like old houses on a well established street, each one had character. Some were quirky and cool, and I loved stepping in to visit friends and have a cuppa. Others I knew got rowdy, but they were entertaining. Colourful. Some were places where my ideas and preconceptions were sure to be challenged, and I welcomed that. Sometimes there were neighbour spats, and sometimes they played out in public. Most often the storms would blow over. It was a neighbourhood I fit into. My first tribe. I got my photographic feet wet here, tried out new things, learned a lot, but after trying, and waiting, and watching this new platform and how it's being developed, it seems the time has come to move on. The family home is gone, the old neighbourhood razed to make way for new and improved subdivisions. Now every yard is the same, and there's a neighbourhood watch in place to make sure the garage doors are all painted the same unoffending colour.
I hate conformity, and I would never choose to live in a place where it's celebrated.

By IDuke (this edited version: Sting) - Edited version (sharpness, contrast and saturation) of File:Markham-suburbs_id.jpg, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/...
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I'm gone too Marjorie - last post today!
See you on the scrabble board! Mxx