As we head into the final ten day stretch of the 2015 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, some of you might be feeling a little worn and ragged like my poor sunflower in the above photo. If you don't know about my sunflower you can read the beginning of the story here as well as the follow-up here.
I've mentioned previously that I'm not much of a gardener and this sunflower is essentially on its own as it struggles during our current California drought. Maybe this is what a sunflower bloom is supposed to look like after two and a half weeks, but I wouldn't think so. In any case, this flower is still hanging in there and hopefully will continue to stand until at least the May 4th A to Z Reflections Post. This Reflections post has become a yearly tradition of the Challenge and we hope that everyone who finishes the Challenge will join us in this event. Be watching for more information in the days to come.
Stay Strong!
My sunflower is hanging in there for April. Are you hanging in there as well with your posting and commenting? Maybe your initial A to Z bloom has wilted away some, but we hope you're still meeting the Challenge as it was initially stated. Since opening day approximately 250 links have been removed from the list due to not keeping up as the Challenge calls for. We hope you aren't one of them and hope you don't become one of them.
So how are you doing right now? Up to date with posts? On the right letter (tomorrow will be the letter "Q")?
Don't Slack Off!
As we find those of you who have fallen behind or just slacked off for some reason you may feel is fitting to not post, we are trying to leave reminders and notes of encouragement to nudge you into catching up or at least letting us know that you are there. The co-hosts don't want to appear to be insensitive, but keep in mind that this is a challenge and not just some idle blog hop where you put your name on a Linky List and just expect it to stay there.
If you are not keeping up, not keeping readers informed about your status if you are not keeping up, and not communicating with the co-hosts when they attempt to find out what's going on, then you will be removed from the Challenge list. We want to be fair to all participants including those who are faithfully posting according to the guidelines we've set for the Challenge. When these participants take the time to visit a blog only to find that blog hasn't posted according to the letters or has shown no activity for many days then they are wasting their valuable time because that slacker blogger wasn't considerate enough to keep their blog updated.
If you look at the instructions in the "Sign up List" tab you will see that we clearly state:
Blogs on the list showing no activity once the Challenge starts or miss five days in a row will be removed.We try to show some leniency and compassion for most of you other than the blogs that are obviously only on the list to be on the list and having no intention of participating--those blogs are cut without mercy when we find them. But the others we try to give a chance before removal. It would be unfair for anyone to say that the A to Z Team is unfair in maintaining the list to reflect actual participants.
We're Only Human
Admitting mistakes can happen, but we do everything we can to correct the errors when they are brought to our attention. If you feel that you've been unfairly cut from the list then we apologize and hope that you will let us know so that we can do what we can to fix the situation.
We are still weeding through the list in hopes of finishing with a list of bloggers who mightily made their way to the end. And I hope that if you are reading this, you are one of those champion bloggers who cross the finish line with your letter "Z" post and stand with us in the winners circle of the May 4th A to Z Reflections Post.
You are almost there. You can do it! Don't give up when you are so close and catch up to the rest of us if you have fallen a bit behind. This Challenge is doable.
Are you keeping up to the letter of the day? Has there been a point during the month where you fell behind or maybe even considered giving up? Will you be joining us for the Reflections Post on May 4th?
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