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Writers may write alone, but essays are completed by readers.
Brent L. Kendrick (b. 1947)

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Today marks the halfway point of 2026, and I’m delighted to share a milestone.

During the first six months of the year, The Wired Researcher has been viewed more than 17,000 times.

When I embarked on this new chapter inventing myself, I wondered where I would find the conversations that had sustained me for so many years in the classroom. I eventually discovered that they hadn’t ended at all. They had simply moved online, where every Monday morning another essay leaves my desk and finds its way into the world.

Some essays make readers laugh. Others invite reflection. A few stir memories. Every once in a while, one seems to touch something I never anticipated.

Here are this year’s most-read essays so far:

● Oh, No! No Sourdough!
● Death Watch
● Two Porches. One Voice
● Poor Brentford Gives a Knuckle Rap
● What We Know. What We Believe
● Carrying the Bags of Colonial America’s Humourist
● Crystal Clear
● Keeping Up with the Evidence
● The Long Way a Voice Comes Home
● I Want to Know Why
● Friends in All Places
● The Journey Is the Gift
● Underneath a Jacket and Yaller Pants

What pleases me most isn’t that one essay did well. It’s that readers have embraced essays about humor, language, gardening, relationships, cooking, aging, memory, and the unexpected moments that make ordinary life extraordinary. That tells me you’re returning not just for a topic, but for the journey.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting, sharing, and encouraging me week after week. Writers may write alone, but essays are completed by readers.

Here’s to the essays that have already been shared—and to those still waiting patiently for Monday morning.

To you, My Dear Readers, I am grateful beyond measure.