Sunday, February 27, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” @ “Waning Crescent”; New Moon is “Worm Moon” @ 3/1, fullest @ 3/18.)}

Yesterday, in my part-time job in the feed store, I straightened and stacked articles of wear in the store’s upscale clothing department. The Western-themed section offers items designed for men and women, ranging from jeans, jackets, and shirts to shoes, hats, and jewelry. I enjoy being there doing work that primarily involves tidying up.

My job is re-folding jeans that customers have pulled from shelves to examine or try on. The store requires folding items in specific ways to stack neatly, to look new and inviting. I’m a rather lax housekeeper at home and had anticipated that work with clothing wouldn’t appeal. But it does. I really care about how well I’m folding, stacking, and straightening.

That activity is returning me through time and space to something I don’t recall ever giving a thought to. I happen to be the daughter of a top merchandiser and salesperson. My father owned and operated several stores, a music store, a jewelry store, and a shoe store, each in individual sections of an elongated building. He passed away while I was very young, but through the years, I’ve heard relatives who once worked for him speak of my father’s excellent managing and sales skills.

That’s been an epiphany. A sudden glimmer of what charges my motivation to work with and handle for-sale clothing compulsively and correctly.

Should I postulate boldly that folding clothing might be making me discover more of myself? That it is encouraging me to re-think myself, adjust internal assessments of my capabilities?

That’s all this morning because time’s short. I’m to help open the store.

Dear Friends: It’s all fun, kind of odd-funny, and also weirdly motivating. Diana

Saturday, February 26, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” @ “Waning Crescent”; New Moon is “Worm Moon” @ 3/1, fullest @ 3/18.)}

Our cold snap is ending, thanks to the powers that be. Recent and very low temps blew out the GFCI that controls heaters in my horses’ water troughs. The intense cold seemed too much for me to try being on my knees to work on the GFCI, so I elected multiple times daily to chop ice in the troughs. That’s been worrisome, for thick ice chunks quickly re-freeze, denying animals access to drinkable water.

Today will initiate a welcome warming trend. Speaking to weather preferences is tricky because our area desperately needs snow and rain. Preferable weather conditions are a double-edged sword. I’d less have minded last week’s extreme cold if not for the GFCI and horse-drinking worries.

I remind myself that annual very cold weather snaps usually bring unexpected problems. I remind myself that thinking ahead would be preferable to reflecting from hindsight, as now I’m doing.

To be honest, I’ve wondered about that GFCI, if it might be on the fringe after several years of operating. I’ve changed the GFCI before but it’s not a job I’m capable of completing quickly. Besides, working with bare hands in single and double-digit temps, makes fingers start to freeze and hands become intensely painful.

Before leaving for work later in the morning, maybe I will tackle the GFCI problem. A successful outcome so the horses may drink anytime would ease my mind.

The feed store where I work is expanding my retailing experience by giving me a broader range of responsibilities. Besides selling chickens and associated merchandise, I’m now assisting with sales and merchandising in the Animal Health Department, also assisting in the Clothing Department, and am a back-up cash register operator.

Those changes are making my days more interesting. The hours away from home pass quickly, and returning home always feels good.

Plus, I was included in a year-end bonus!

Dear Friends: One thing lovely about aging is the shedding of some old worries. Diana

Friday, February 25, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” @ “Waning Crescent”; New Moon is “Worm Moon” @ 3/1, fullest @ 3/18.)}

I’m drafting for publication the story of Lisa’s unique aviary. Yesterday, I returned to gather new images and more about how she created the beautiful place.

One of my photo objectives was related to my part-time job in a feed store. Lisa purchases from the store chicken feeders and hangs them high to feed finches and canaries. Yesterday, she staged perfect shots by not feeding birds until I arrived. That let me capture the feeders loaded with birds.

Here’s another image.

The most colorful bird, second from left, is a male. So is that bird at far right. I wished for close-ups of those guys, but they’re too quick. Soon as I spotted one perched and shifted my camera, he flew. That camera can stop action, but not that of those little quickies.

Here, he looks up at a lady friend. This capture also shows decorative perches and trees inside the aviaries.

I’ll save most of the aviary story for our article, except for this irresistible nest. Lisa lowered it yesterday, showing brand-new babies moments after hatching. They’re all-skin bundles with big eyes and have sparse baby feathers sticking up. The whole sweet group is smaller than my hand.

Look closely, and you’ll see a beautiful egg, not yet hatched.

I will make a print of a “feeder with birds” image and offer it to the feed store. It perfectly demonstrates a creative way of “putting to work” a product beyond its designated purpose.

Dear Friends: So much to write about and with many delightful images. Diana

Thursday, February 24, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” @ “Waning Crescent”; New Moon “Worm Moon” @ 3/1, fullest @ 3/1,8.)}

As of yesterday, War! In our “age of enlightenment,” and world nations sharing one planet and knowing it’s in crisis, how does anyone in “a right mind” initiate war with another country? Wars cost money and lives, utilize modern weapons to target and kill accurately. Even very-oddball leaders, like North Korea’s front-man, sputters threats and refrains from starting a significant war.

Putin is crazy, and his game is on.

I carefully selected today’s header image. It shows my dogs beside a canal, almost as pretty as an Old Master painting. It’s a peaceful scene of living and being together, suggesting what ought to be for us all.

Today, I have a day off from the feed store. I’ll draft a magazine article featuring Lisa’s aviary. I’ll take Mitzvah, my busy little J. Russell/x, for a play date with Petey, the Gilberts’ Border Terrier. And, Dang, it! I’ll change that malfunctioning GFCI letting my trough waters freeze.

Dear Friends: And like us all, hoping it’s possible to halt a madman’s dream. Diana

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” @ “Waning Gibbous”; New Moon @ 3/1, “Worm Moon” fullest @ 3/18.)}

Cold yesterday! My big hen turkeys were shivering, same as me. I was trying to string a wind barrier against their exposed area. My fingers were freezing, my hands painfully numb and nearly useless. An early temperature in the high teens was cold aplenty, but with winds from the west blowing strongly, outside was sheer misery.

I have turkeys, chickens, a couple of goats, and three equines demanding care. Equines need periodic dribbles of feed, which forces me outside to provide for them. I checked their watering troughs in that early evening and found them solidly frozen. Fortunately, I was able with a hammer to break up that ice. (In the past, I’ve faced thickly-iced trough water, with my best hammering not causing a single crack.)

Out in the cold and on my knees, I bent and peered at the GFCI, finding it off. But why? In darkness and awful cold I closed my eyes and hit the “on” button. The controller clicked in, and I double-checked. It seemed working again. I looked closely at both troughs and saw their heaters creating steam.

Right then, my best choice was to leave good enough alone, return to the house, and hope the GFCI wouldn’t click off. Regardless, the horses should be okay through the night’s remaining hours.

Maybe in this cold morning, I’ll be on my knees replacing that controller.

Dear Friends: Winter harshness tests a rancher’s intelligence, strength, patience. Diana

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” @ “Waning Gibbous”; New Moon @ 3/1, “Worm Moon” fullest @ 3/18.)}

The header cartoon from today’s “Economist” easily sketches me. I’m thinking and wondering. It’s a miracle if I get something constructive done. Just saying.

Yesterday at work, while stocking shelves, I heard a call over my radio to go to the cashiers. A young man with a carrier containing two baby chicks wanted to return them. His landlord refused to let him keep chickens. Of course, the tiny beings became mine.

They have overnighted in an aquarium under a heat lamp. These two don’t seem big and strong enough to join my other babies still living in a brooder. They’re about three weeks older than the newbies and very active.

It’s a little scary wondering how many chickens I might wind up with in my “Chicken Lady” stint in the feed store. I’m worried about the time and space to care correctly for them. Maybe that’s why today’s header cartoon attracted me.

Otherwise yesterday, I played sleuth. A young man entered the store’s Clothing Department wearing all black, carrying a large backpack, and with a scarf covering most of his face. He walked into an expensive boot aisle. Over my radio came a call for “extra eyes on this guy”.

The concern is a possibility of someone putting on new shoes, leaving his or her old shoes in an empty shoebox, and wearing new shoes to walk out of the store. A “look” common to potential thieves includes dark clothing with a backpack and mask.

I went into Clothing. He was deep in an aisle, pulling a box, and about to try on shoes. I grabbed a duster and entered the aisle, dusting shelves and demo shoes. He stood, trying out the new shoes, and I said, “Hey, those look great. Are they comfortable?” He was silent. I went on dusting toward his direction. Soon he returned the shoes to their box, stood, and left Clothing. He walked straight to the main exit and left the store.

It appears that collective experience teaches shopper “types” or “appearances” that suggest potential thievery. We employees are instructed, for safety, to do nothing to stop an act of theft, but instead, to gather all possible about how someone looked, their behavior, and the license number of a departure vehicle.

Dear Friends: A day of chicks and wariness, and last night of even some snow. Diana

Monday, February 21, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” @ “Waning Gibbous”; New Moon @ 3/1, “Worm Moon” fullest @ 3/18.)}

I read national media and often worry about the environment, economy, and political world mishegoss. All those problems affect little old me in real-time here in Central Oregon. Some “whys” are emptier grocery shelves, higher prices everywhere, and drying-up, desperately needing rain in Central Oregon. Whew!

I worry about being stuck in such conditions. The popular media report on “action ways” to elevate anxious or bad moods. They recommend journaling, hiking, working out, or escaping into fiction and movies.

I have learned to elevate my worrying moods by practicing how to divert my thoughts. The bottom line is having gained more control over my brain processes.

The first step was to identify my feelings. Were they worried, sad, or simply bad moods? The second step was having an internal conversation with my brain. It went something like this: “Brain, I appreciate you. I understand your concerns about our future and negative challenges. But could we shift? Would you provide something more positive for me to think about?” I learned to “listen” for the brain’s response. It always does. A suggestion gears up my thinking and elevates my mood.

I practice often, “Having talks with my brain.” I speak with consideration, or in other words, treat myself well and anticipate kind responses. After all, my brain is me. I must practice being kind to myself.

Dear Friends: These thoughts are preliminary to an upcoming writing goal. Diana

Sunday, February 20, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” @ “Waning Gibbous”; New Moon @ 3/1, “Worm Moon” fullest @ 3/18.)}

Yesterday the feed store where I work part-time sold the few remaining baby chickens. Many who enjoy the birds came in to purchase or simply see what’s in stock. I listened to “chicken stories” from visitors’ past and present lives through the day and shared some of my hard-earned wisdom.

It’s a non-brainer to suspect that recent pandemic years have boosted a general interest in having chickens. Folks staying home through the worst times discovered new hobbies on exploring for diversions. Many took up chicken-keeping. Some visiting the store have spoken of having beehives and how environmental circumstances make chicken-keeping easier than bee-keeping.

I’m watching my two big roosters, still getting along though sharing too few hens. My newest problem is seeing that the dominant rooster doesn’t like the two hen turkeys. He sees them as some sort of threat and gives chase. The turkeys are bigger but neither fast movers nor fighters. I love this rooster but worry that he’s begun to tread a thin line.

Ahead today, I’ll be chicken-less and focusing on the more extensive section of Animal Health. Maybe hearing customers’ stories about having horses, cattle, pigs, goats, and/or sheep. I’ll be in a listening mode and understand the role as a learning experience.

Dear Friends: This morning, just a quick hello and have a good day. Diana

Saturday, February 18, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” is “Waning Gibbous”; New Moon @ 3/1, “Worm Moon” fullest @ 3/18.)}

I can’t resist borrowing the above two-sided jab cartoon from the most recent “New Yorker.” It’s ironic; it makes me laugh while also triggering fears of a scary future. Pictures are powerful, and this one I keep recalling.

These days most everything seems ironic. Consider how our “dependable moon” stimulates fantasy. After working yesterday’s late shift, I drove home facing the not fully risen “Cold Moon.” My mind couldn’t resist transforming the still-bright light into something like guidance, elevating a sense of hope, precisely as moonlight’s done for humanity through eons.

It’s essential to feel gratitude for cartoons, moons, and other symbols. They keep us aware of sharing fragilities and strengths. They provide reassurance that no one alone has worries or unique optimisms. We interpret daily the unending news, hoping to learn of big and little problem solutions. Those constructive activities help us cope with the world while fearing its ways.

Dear Friends: Meanings arise among the yin and yang of existence. Diana

Friday, February 18, 2022

^{(“Cold Moon” phase is “Waning Gibbous”; March’s fullest, the “Worm Moon,” rises 3/18.)}

Yesterday, the year-old pup I adopted last Thanksgiving received an initial round of vaccinations. Now she’s good to go running with her pack beyond my fenced yard. When I told her that, she wasn’t interested.

Okay, Mitzvah, but there’s more; you’ve gained weight! Now you’re ten pounds, looking bigger and healthier. Still not interested? Okay, then get this. Next week it’s arranged, you’ll go on a play date with Petey, the Gilberts’ Border Terrier. He might outweigh you, be slightly bigger, but no worries. You’ll outrun him anyway. Because you’re Ms. J. Russell/x; and that’s what you do.

Julie Gilbert and I discussed a play date for months, but until I could attend a veterinary appointment for vaccinations, Mitzvah was safest being confined. That is, if my fenced one-third acre dog-space is a “confinement.” Within, Mitzvah typically is found racing and leading my other four dogs, all larger than she.

Three days off from work this week were a welcome break. My horses daily could travel down the road to graze all afternoons on a neighbor’s pasture. Another nearby neighbor, Johnny, often joined our walks, and happily I’d turn over a couple of ropes. He loves leading equines!

On pasture grass, my three are in heaven. In late afternoons I show up and call. The trio comes running and kicking the air. After their carrot rewards, we head for home.

Dear Friends: Three days off makes me resist resuming the “employee mode.” Diana