In June I quietly decided to take a hiatus from writing this blog. Thankfully, Hugh Crawford (No Words Daily Pix) and Eliot Wagner (Now I’ve Heard Everything) kept the flame burning.

My reasons for taking a break were manifold. In February of 2011 I began training to be a court reporter and my time for blogging was quite limited because I needed to focus on, well, court reporting. During a break from school in July I took a trip to Europe, which also limited my ability to blog.

But there were other reasons, too. After seven years writing for OTBKB I needed a break, a chance to regroup, rethink, and take a step back.

For almost seven years my passion for this blog was unlimited. People often asked: how do you do it, why do you do it, where do you find the time???

My answer was always the same: I love it.  Indeed, I was truly passionate about blogging and OTBKB. It didn’t feel like work, it felt like joy. That’s why I started the Brooklyn Blogfest (to spread the blogging gospel). That’s why I was able to post at least once a day and many days much, much more (I couldn’t stop, I had so much to tell you all).

I also loved my beat and the wide scope of this blog. Yes, there was my hyper-local focus on Brooklyn and beyond, including its civics and urban life, art and culture, food, drink, shopping, parenting and street life. But I was able to bring so much of myself and my other interests to it, too.

This blog felt like an extension of me and it could contain whatever interested me, which I hoped would be of interest to you.

Last Spring, for the first time in a very long time, I just couldn’t find the time, the will, or the interest to blog.  Because I was in school, OTBKB wasn’t the primary thing I was doing; I felt I had to step away to make room for the new. Stepping away was actually easier than I imagined it would be. I was spending more and more time in Manhattan and my non-stop attention to Brooklyn was waning.

But I also felt a great absence. I hardly knew myself when I wasn’t blogging. OTBKB was where I reckoned with the things that mattered to me, it’s where I set down my thoughts and feelings. Like a notebook, it was where I responded to the world around me.

Who was I without OTBKB? Some days I didn’t know.

And then on September 10, 2011, I felt moved to blog about the 10th anniversary. I’ve written many times on OTBKB about 9/11 anniversaries so it felt right that I should comment on this meaningful day.

Coming back to the blog was like finding an old friend. It felt familiar, yet different. There was much to say and yest, also a desire to find a new ways to connect. I didn’t want to get back into old habits; I wanted to find a new way of doing things.

The first post I ever posted was on September 18, 2004 almost exactly seven years ago. Soon after I started calling my posts, Postcard from the Slope.

I’m liking that idea that I will, once again, write these little postcards about what I’m thinking about. It feels right, it sounds good.

I’ll take it from there and see what happens. Thanks for listening.