December is when “Top Ten” lists spring up in all sorts of places, including More to Come.
This list is your selection of the top ten posts for the year. Because MTC is not your typical single-focus newsletter, I want to thank you for reading this eclectic mix of observations about experiences, people, and things I enjoy; issues that are important to me; and topics I need to hear. I am so grateful that readers keep checking in, providing feedback through their choices of what’s of interest.
So let’s begin…and yes, you have to go all the way to the end to see what’s #1.
Travels far and wide
After two years of a pandemic lockdown, I was beyond ready to hit the road in 2022. Judging by the number of views, MTC readers were also ready to experience travel, even vicariously. Two of the top ten posts from 2022 were travel related, and I’ve thrown in two bonus posts because 1) one was bumped out of the top ten in the last week and 2) I want to ensure that all my major trips from the year were included.
Observations from the Mekong River is the wrap-up post from a life-enriching tour of Vietnam and Cambodia. Within this piece you’ll find links to the six additional postings from the trip.
Our family likes to eat, so I write about those experiences. A lot. Occasionally they make the top ten list. An appetite for Paris (with a side order of Glasgow) is one such post, which covers our time in France and Scotland.
Travel bonus posts
It took less than two hours in the city for Claire to exclaim that You cannot take a bad picture in Paris (Part 1). During our ten days in the city, we took hundreds. This post was bumped out of the top ten at the last minute by an unexpected entrant, so I’ve included it here. In addition to the first in this series, check out parts two, three, and four.
Observations from…cities, highlands, islands, and fjords, a bonus choice, ensures that you have a chance to see photos and notes from our trip last spring to Scotland and Norway.
Music and books…staples of my life
Two of my passions are words and music. Since I write about them — a lot — it is no surprise that four of the top ten reader views followed my lead.
Joni Jam captures Joni Mitchell’s triumphant return to Newport in 2022. This top ten post included a few of my favorite videos from the show.
The books I read… was a regular feature on MTC. Each month I would summarize the five books I read during that period. These summaries were favorites of readers, so rather than clutter up the top ten list with four or five of these posts, I’ve included the one from November, which has links to all the other months.
Ten tips for reading five books a month was born when a friend wrote to ask how I read so fast in order to get through my goal for each month. Tip Number 10: Read all the time is probably the most important, but the other nine are apparently useful as well, based on the reader views and feedback.
Embrace the liminality in life — my take on Kathryn Schulz’s generous and perceptive meditation/memoir on loss and love, Lost & Found — topped the reader views for an individual review.
Place matters
My career has been about saving places that matter. One post in the top ten focused on that theme.
Memory, continuity, and identity are deeply important to people, positioning the importance of old places in people’s lives in a much more fundamental fashion than we often think. It was that point of view that I wanted to share with a group of University of Virginia students. As I did so, I placed it in the context of my personal journey and my origin story, which takes place at Union Station in Nashville.
Family recollections and celebrations
More to Come started as a family blog, and through more than 14 years I’ve continued writing about the people I love. Three of this year’s top ten posts have family themes, including the top vote getter for 2022.
My annual Thanksgiving posting of family photographs is always a perennial favorite. Our year in photos – 2022 showcases trips and transitions, along with much to be grateful for.
Accomplished artists stand on the shoulders of giants: their teachers. As Andrew announced that he was heading to the opera institute at Boston University this fall, I wrote All that we owe our teachers as my way of saying thanks to his coaches and mentors. They are all remarkable people who have graced our family’s life.
And coming in #1 on this year’s list of the “Best of the blog” — even though it was only posted in the past week — is a short piece celebrating Claire and Andrew’s 30th birthday on December 20th. Thirty years goes by in the blink of an eye is a reminder to savor every moment.
Enjoy!
More to come…
DJB
Last year’s listing of the top ten posts on More to Come as selected by reader views can be seen by clicking on the link. You can also check here to find similar lists from 2020, 2019, and 2016 (family and friends edition) and 2016 (everything else).
Image of flower detail from Giverny by Claire Holsey Brown.
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