Remembering “Mable”

Wednesday, April 03, 2024

For me, this is a new one: World Rat Day (happening tomorrow).

Recently, I began following on FB some fancy-rat owners who have trained their pets to “do agility.” They capably photograph and video the cute and appealing creatures, maybe carrying a toy, navigating an agility course, or as a still life.

Why am I interested in following people who keep rats as pets?

In my high school years, I brought home a white rat from the biology classroom to care for over two weeks of Christmas Holidays. I called that fun and affectionate creature “Mable” and quickly grew fond of her, often letting her run freely in my bedroom. She loved finding her way into my chest of drawers and chewed holes in clothing. I don’t remember feeling either relief or sadness on returning Mable to school, but over many years do remember her as a charmer.

Upon retiring to Central Oregon and living beyond the city limits on a small property, I learned about the local wild rats, known as “pack rats.” Named for collecting, or “packing around,” for their nests, various objects, and bits of material. Here’s my thing: pack rats are nuisances like all wild rat varieties, but they look cute and are appealing, with big whiskers, bright eyes, and busy trails. After trapping a pack rat, I take the caged critter to a BLM and release it.

Sometimes, I think about adopting a couple of neutered/spayed fancy rats. The upside is that they’re social, intelligent, low-maintenance, and fun. Also appealing is that rats have a shorter lifespan. On the downside, free time is required for providing companionship and training for pet rats; moreover, they’re primarily nocturnal and, for certain, are great chewers.

Dear Friends: Ahead of World Rat Day, sweet memories and some thoughts. Diana

Toward Spring

Tuesday, April 02, 2024

Today will be this area’s warmest; I haven’t any pressing needs to take me away from home. I am going to rev up my tractor and clear the horses’ dry lot of dried muck and other ground-awful debris. The pitifully messy area has been on hold until a pause in our long string of wet, windy, and too-cold days, and it’s this one.

Last week, after charging the tractor’s motor, I tested its starter. The engine immediately powered up and with a good-sounding idle. I didn’t do any cleaning that day because it was overcast, and later it rained.

When I first moved onto this property and arranged it for horses, which had been my dream, I knew little about all actually needed. If today I were setting up for horses, many elements would be different. Years of experience teach; and I’ve learned and dealt with many unanticipated needs on my hilly, rocky property.

Hey, I count my blessings, too. Space with a rocky landscape reduces gardening demands; provides room for outside animals–horses, chickens, and a goat; enables privacy when it’s needed; and living up high makes visible a distant, beautiful mountain range.

When the tractoring is done and the dry lot better, I more easily will welcome spring. Already growing weeds need attention; the horses (and dogs) should be out on trails; and my favorite hobbies need resuming.

Dear Friends: A warm day encourages a shift from shrinking to re-engaging. Diana

Foolish ‘n Fun

Monday, April 01, 2024

April Fool’s Day! This day recalls my long-ago school days, the grade-school years. Annually, on April 1, we kids would tell one another lies continually, and after each, blurt out, “Ha! April Fool’s!” We never became bored; exchanging lies was creative and great fun.

There are various theories about possible events centuries ago that might have initiated an open tradition of playing pranks and telling lies. I’m interested in a day set aside for those purposes, its great and multi-cultural appeal.

On the first of April day, jokes arise from everywhere and are expected. They’re from individuals and from the media, and from businesses and some political communications. My casual notion is that April 01 gives people an open passport that allows joking around and telling lies. It frees us up, for an entire day, to ignore the otherwise never-ending admonition: Don’t tell lies, anytime, period.

Dear Friends: April 01 doesn’t lie, and cannot for it’s really April Fool’s Day. Diana

Holiday Fuss

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Happy Easter.

My cooking method involves using an InstaPot or an air fryer, but today, I plan to oven-roast a chicken. This is no big deal to most, but it is to me. Years ago, I grasped the ease and speed of cooking with alternate equipment and rededicated my oven, making it a storage space for little-used pots.

Today, I am home and have a fat chicken in my refrigerator. After spending time considering the options for that bird, I decided to just go ahead and cook it the “old way.” I’m a little short on memory, so visited YouTube University. A refresher course reminded me of beer-can chicken and that in my refrigerator is a can of beer.

My hatched plan starts by clearing the oven of unused, neglected skillets and pots and placing them out of the way temporarily. It feels a bit scary, wondering if my beer can chicken will turn out really good and make me reconsider doing oven cooking instead of using my quickie appliances.

You see, I’ve found that not much cooked with quickie appliances really satisfies. I’ve accepted that because, importantly, quickies cook rapidly with minimal effort. However, I often consider the tastes and textures inferior and recall them as more satisfying with variable temperatures and longer oven times.

As usual, I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. I hope my beer-can oven-cooked chicken looks and tastes special as a fine holiday meal. I also hope the chicken is only slightly better than my quickies would produce. That would satisfy; I’d happily return the old skillets and pots to my oven, call it a day, and continue the faster and easier quickie cooking.

Dear Friends: Best wishes to all for whom Easter is a special holiday. Diana

Osix

Saturday, March 30, 2024

One of my favorite photos is “Osix With A Flower,” taken a few years ago during a hike along the Deschutes River. The cool and pleasant photo shows Osix in a “thinking moment”—anticipating our next moves and evaluating possibilities—in her unique, slightly weird way.

It reveals much about the once-tiny puppy I adopted nearly thirteen years ago. Osix grew into a very smart, quirky, and sometimes quasi-independent adult. She’s also a great communicator. Time and again, noticing her expression precisely as in the header photo, I wonder about her next move.

Mostly, she’s dependable and stays with the group, but sometimes leaves and disappears. I might find that she’s returned to the parking area and is either inside or under my vehicle. However, sudden gun-shot types of loud noises make her run away and hide. I might look for her (usually fruitless) or wait (sometimes a long while) before she feels safe again and reappears.

She’s my best watchdog. Some neighbors dislike her because of her sometimes almost unstoppable barking. I understand, but from my perspective, the alert dog instantly warns of anything unusual. Her presence is especially reassuring when I must walk down to the barn, to my horses waiting for hay, in the nighttime darkness.

Osix is very beautiful. Her slender nose and colorful, abundant coat hint at her genetic connections to the Rough Collie breed.

Dear Friends: Today, sharing sweet Osix, my fine and slightly offbeat companion. Diana

Cover Ups

Friday, March 29, 2024

I love my duvet!

So, what’s a duvet? What’s a duvet cover? I started wondering while working part-time as a clerk in the store’s home department. Many customers asked if our shelves carried duvets and duvet covers. To learn, I went around examining packages, and found many labeled “Duvet,” but none “Duvet Cover.” Over time when customers asked about duvet covers, I’d say, “We have duvets but no duvet covers.” A typical response was, “I’m not surprised because I keep looking for duvet covers, and can’t find them.”

I knew little about duvets and duvet covers other than the package labels. I was barely interested in their relationship to what I know as a “comforter.” But early one morning, a questioner asked about the difference between a duvet and a duvet cover. I guessed at an answer, got away with it, and decided to become educated.

I went online with questions, and the answers aligned somewhat with my guessing but better described the differences. A duvet is a large blanket with sewn inserts for padding and can have interchangeable covers; a comforter, however, is a single unit. Soon after I learned this, an arriving customer asked the difference between a duvet and a comforter. I waxed eloquently!

I started thinking of getting a duvet for myself. My old feather-filled comforter never gets used because its feathers squirrel around and bunch in various corners, leaving me covered by an empty double sheet. A duvet with sewn inserts could be a satisfying alternative.

I ordered a duvet, used it a time or two, and then ordered a duvet cover. Now, after weeks of sleeping under my duvet, I fully admit to loving it. During the nightly “brief awake moments,” I feel very protected, and in a little tunnel, safe and warm.

Dear Friends: Now, I’m a super explainer and seller of duvets and covers. Diana

Re-Energizing

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Today, I ordered a season ticket to The Central Oregon Symphony. Weeks ago, I attended a performance of its Chamber Group that revealed musicality and professionalism. Before then, I imagined this small city’s musical organizations as amateur podunk groups. I’m delighted to remember the well-organized musicians, in tails and formals, capably performing a fine program.

The conductor “knew his stuff” and was lively. I liked watching him conduct and enjoyed seeing his and the players’ two-way communications. I wondered why I’d not tapped into Central Oregon’s musical capabilities during my years living here.

Well, here’s some of “why.” I’ve spent nearly twenty years of living here horseback riding in the local forests and mountains. Horses always keep me busy; they’re enjoyable, tiring, and consume time and money. I’ve paid little attention to much else. A change in me came after I began working part-time in a large department store.

Customers gradually reminded me of other interesting activities. Young musicians seeking performance clothing spoke about the Central Oregon Symphony. Vacation planners needing outfits for voyages and trips to Mexico had me considering travel. After moving forward on the Symphony by ordering a season ticket, I might someday take a cruise to Alaska.

Something that hasn’t been mentioned is that I am outlining a novel. My mind has been plotting the story as a mystery, so that’s how I am designing it. However, we know that everything continuously evolves. So I must be patient and let my plot amble until it becomes satisfyingly whole.

Dear Friends: As one’s interests and inspirations evolve, so does the person. Diana

We Care!

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Yesterday, a local televised newscast reported that the store where I work part-time was robbed the night before. Apparently, thieves broke the lock on an entry/exit door to enter and managed to open and empty all the registers. My estimate of the available cash is near the amount reported stolen. Nightly, while closing the store we leave minimal cash in the registers.

There’s no telling how thieves managed to break into the store and into the closed and locked cash registers. To open a register drawer anytime, an employee must have a private and employee-specific numerical code.

Oddly, I didn’t see any reporting on that theft in this morning’s local newspaper. At work today, I probably won’t learn more as the incident might still be an open investigation. And oddly, the theft feels like something personal, as if I care about the store.

These days, thievery is rampant throughout business establishments. Thieves walk in and take merchandise out openly. Stores instruct employees not to stop or follow a thief. Recently, I was scolded (and again several times!) for following a carrying person to see his license plate. So, I’ll not do any more sleuthing.

The idea of caring about the store surprises me, as it’s simply where I work part-time. Wondering how the managers might be feeling, and doing more thinking about caring, it might mean having positive feelings about working with others. We’re a team and the store is our base.

Dear Friends: Goodbye, “Good old days,” and hello, ever-more Complicated Days. Diana

Evening Lights

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

I worked late yesterday and didn’t photograph the full moon as planned, not because I arrived home late after working late but because my puppy, Chase, consumed my attention. Since early morning, he’d been in solitary and confined in a standalone kennel. I disliked leaving him that way, but its concrete floor prevents digging and escaping—his specialty in the common dog area.

This robust and energetic puppy needs vigorous exercise. In his sudden freedom after long hours of confinement, Chase ran alongside me as I went to feed the horses. He raced happily and freely while my other dogs, still fenced, objected loudly and unendingly. That chaos made me miss opportunities to photograph this February’s most total moon.

I’ll revisit that plan this evening, with the moon still almost full and its reduced size unnoticeable. It feels important to consider the moon monthly and be captivated by its few hours of absolute fullness. That lets us reimagine the moon’s potential and influence. Throughout humankind’s time, its constancy has impacted and elevated our math comprehension and emotional experiences and significantly influenced our social evolution.

I love the moon in all its phases. Its steadiness reassures and almost relaxes my growing discomfort with trying to grasp and cope with “always-changing” economic, political, and social situations.

Dear Friends: Tonight’s challenge will be adjusting camera settings manually. Diana

Powerful Silence

Monday, March 25, 2024

My constant desire to learn is highly motivating. Thinking about that yesterday, I wondered how much casual learning really sticks. I became interested in watching a silent British movie, “Piccadilly,” from 1928, starring the Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong, a film star.

That opportunity had me recalling elements of my journey years ago toward appreciating foreign films over Hollywood’s typical outputs. The best foreign films would activate viewers’ minds. Watching taught me about interpreting film action and dialogue to encourage a fuller comprehension of on-film behaviors. Foreign films had me reflecting more deeply on human behaviors and motivations.

My learning included watching Old Days’ Silents, which taught that on-film action, with only patches of printed dialogue, offers viewing experiences that are both powerful and highly emotional. Yesterday, while reflecting, I decided to watch “Piccadilly.”

I needed a few minutes to understand a series of silent actions that seemed disjointed and awkward. However, I was quickly impressed by the artistic scenery arrangements and superb camerawork by the film’s director. Before Wong’s appearance, the acting was old-fashioned and overly dramatic, but her film style was expressive and spontaneous.

As the film progressed, I became my former viewing self, focusing on key elements–script flow, scene shifting, camera angles, and believability. The script was jerky, its outcome dissatisfied and wasn’t believable, and throughout, every character overacted. What made viewing worthwhile were the excellent scene settings, the consistently great camerawork, and Wong’s appealing presence.

I used my old learning to interpret and appreciate a classic work, which has interested me in watching other well-known silent films. I would compare their fundamental elements, the scripts, scenes, and camera work—those backbones that made early movies appealing.

Dear Friends: I’ll add that this bit of film study cost me a new subscription. Diana