{"id":4900,"date":"2010-08-05T18:52:50","date_gmt":"2010-08-05T23:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=4900"},"modified":"2022-01-01T08:52:20","modified_gmt":"2022-01-01T13:52:20","slug":"aland-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/aland-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00c5land Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I suppose I can break my own rules. If I admit to being hypocritical, does that make me a marginally less contemptible hypocrite or at least a more self-aware one? Perhaps not, but that\u2019s what’s going to happen on Twelve Mile Circle today. I\u2019ve said repeatedly that I plan to combine reports of initial national visitors into combined entries. I don’t want to bombard you with lots of “look who just arrived” boasting. I\u2019ve done well with that lately with bundled articles such as New Visitor Roundup<\/a> and More First-Timers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strange things happen. I might register a first-time visitor from an exceptionally rare and unexpected location for instance. I can\u2019t contain my joy and excitement, and I have to report it to the world even though most of you will probably respond with indifference. I\u2019m doing the happy dance while you hit the Page Down key to read the next blog in your feed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s fine. I don\u2019t take it personally. Come back in a couple of days and I\u2019ll return to normal, or as close to “normal” as possible for me. After all, this little geo-oddity fixation of mine is at least a standard deviation or two beyond the mainstream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00c5land<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u00c5land Calling. That’ the title of this article, right? Yes, I received an actual genuine website visitor from the \u00c5land Islands<\/a>. This is mindbogglingly rare. The \u00c5land Islands take the form of a small archipelago within the Baltic Sea, a rocky sentinel at the mouth of the Gulf of Bothnia in the waters between mainland Finland and Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n