I had read this thread earlier today and was planning on posting this evening after I had some time to think about it, but when John's email came I figured now was as good a time as any.

I'm one of those sporadic members, I must admit. When I first found the forums, I was on here posting quite a lot. Then I disappeared for nearly a year, not because I don't love lighthouses or these forums, but life became terribly hectic. During the time I was gone I had a major auto accident (I'm doing great now), started a brand new job and had some serious relationship changes. In addition, I've been travelling at a pretty relentless pace and haven't had time to do much else. Over the past month I've been trying to visit every day, but often it's only once a day although I have been reading a lot of posts. I often don't have much time to respond which is why most of my posts are a few sentences. I have more times on the weekends when I'm home (which is not all that often).

My love of lighthouses and their preservation has never dwindled. In fact, about 80% of my travelling has involved a visit to a lighthouse or two (or ten). I've even sold some of my photos from those visits at art shows and via word of mouth.

I still collect HL, but for financial reasons and lack of space (I rent an apt, so don't have a whole lot of storage area), my purchases have seriously dwindled. One thing I would like to comment on is a question that John posed about HL branching into other collectibles and our feelings about that. To be honest, yes, it is discouraging to me to see pieces they are producing that I wouldn't buy because they aren't lighthouse collectibles, such as the balloons or the GG bridge. I really didn't care for the ancient series they did either. There are several pieces that I wish they would produce that I could add to my collection and when I see other things being promoted instead, it is kind of discouraging. Not that I love their pieces or the company any less, because I certainly don't. It's just my opinion.

I think like Dennis said, there is often an ebb and flow to things. After going MIA for a year, I decided that I wanted to be more active here, but I never know what this year will bring. I love these forums and I hope they don't go away. This is the only place on the net like this that I visit and the only place I post. I can't speak for the others, but my personal lack of participation is usually due to my hectic life and not a waning interest in what goes on here. I'm very interested to see what the others say.