Thursday, July 09, 2020

Yesterday, something unimaginable happened: I lost my beloved Pimmy Donkey in Bend’s Horse Butte National Wilderness.

This donkey is bonded highly to my horses. When I’m on horseback Pimmy follows loosely, has done so for years and hundreds of miles in many terrains and environments. Lately, we’ve begun traveling in the Horse Butte Wilderness. She follows as I ride one horse and lead another, hunting for horse trails, pleasant and interesting, for our routine outings.

Pimmy is confident, not in a hurry, and typically, lags behind maybe fifty- to one-hundred-yards. I pause the horses often to graze until our the donkey catches up. Yesterday, after a long ride, I turned the horses onto a narrow trail toward the trailhead but quickly became very preoccupied with them. Rosie wanted to trot and needed holding back, while Sunni kept lowering her head to grab at grass and needed pulling forward. Our struggling continued through the half-mile trail. At its end, I stopped to let the horses graze and wait for Pimmy.

She didn’t show up, a first-time ever! Finally worried, I pushed my trail-weary horses back on the path, but in the direction from which we’d come. Surely, that donkey would be marching toward us or grazing. Nope. On reaching the roadway, I searched for her little hoofprints, but ferreting through many prints in dust requires a more experienced tracker. My horses then continued along the road that looped around to the trailhead. Throughout, no signs of Pimmy.

Nor was she at the trailhead. So, I’d have to ride out again and search for her. After calling for help from my friends, Dave and Julie, I tried to saddle Sunni, but was too upset imagining Pimmy alone in the forest at night to tack-up correctly. I still was struggling with that saddle when Dave and Julie arrived. Dave suggested I call the Sheriff’s Office in case someone might see and report Pimmy. That call turned into solid gold, for someone had spotted her.

The next couple of hours consisted of my loaded rig creeping over bumpy Forest roads as I tried to link up with Ranger Maria who knew where to find Pimmy. I’ll skip most of the details, except to say that finally FR Maria began to guide Dave into the forest over roads too narrow for my rig. I drove around to the trailhead where Julie and I waited.

At last from the Forest, here came Dave leading our beautiful Pimmy: https://youtu.be/-DYDvWQibSo

Dear Friends: I’m thankful for forest watchers, kind friends, and now will keep Pimmy in sight. Diana

Wednesday, July 08, 2020

I’ve carried on about “Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace”, a Chinese series (subtitled) that consists of 81 episodes, streaming on Hulu (perhaps also on Amazon Prime). It’s an historical, lengthy, somewhat lightweight drama, made very special by absolutely stunning visuals, a lovely musical soundtrack, and compelling performances by Zhou Xun (the Harem Empress) and Wallace Huo (the Palace Emperor).

Fascinating to me has been that artists can turn a story, familiar, long and sometimes silly to a modern audience, into an event that can hold viewers through 81 episodes. My initial attractions were to its music and visuals accompanying each series’ opening and closing credits. I went looking for the soundtrack, finally finding only limited versions. While there’s no commercial soundtrack, enough is available to provide a flavor of the series’ style.

I searched for music and visuals, finding this YouTube video with one of the soundtrack’s key singers, Lei Jia (a coloratura soprano who sings with the Metropolitan Opera) performing the opening song. The video includes glimpses of the series, hinting at how throughout its 81 episodes, each scene is sheer visual art.

Here’s the link, enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4_wYfR408M&list=RDC4_wYfR408M&start_radio=1&t=0

Dear Friends: This complicated series give us a story with more to praise than to criticize. Diana

Tuesday, July 07, 2020

In the header photo, taken in Los Angeles during my cousin Mary’s engagement party, the lady with decolletage was her Aunt Fanny, who also was my mom. At that time, mom was approaching her mid-fifties, and as always, was a beautiful lady.

Those were the days when I might have been living in Albuquerque. That’s where I wound up after going to Gallup to rescue my high school friend, Stephanie, from what seemed a mismatched marriage. (I was mistaken, for the couple’s collaboration was long and successful.) At the time, as a midwestern, I rarely had contacts with West Coast relatives. Many years later, and in fact, in Los Angeles at another family event, Mary and I met in person, talked, and almost immediately became friends. Since then, she and her husband, Freddie, and I, have been close.

Since then and through many years, Mary and I have shared our experiences, including routine living activities, memories associated to family members, and also, many of the welcome and unwelcome elements of aging.

This photo arrived yesterday, a surprise blast from the past. If it were possible to slide back in time, I’d be at that party! Mary found the photo in an old collection and included a note explaining that it shows mom talking with her Northern California niece (whom I never met). Nearby, were our Uncle Sam, Aunt Edith, and Cousin Dusty. I knew most of them well, and over the years after that photo, many have passed away.

I still have Mary, still have Stephanie, and am full of gratitude for our shared memories.

Dear Friends: If only I could talk again with Mom, she’d answer so many questions! Diana

Monday, July 07, 2020

This is a quick “good morning” because I’m running late. I must hurry out and ready my rig to roll while morning is here and the weather still cool. A tire caught a nail and needs air, the water-carriers are empty, and the trailer floor is a mess. These chores take time and require effort. Yesterday, I decided to leave them alone.

That’s the kind of delaying decision that always winds up making me angry at myself. The problem with facing work needing completion is that it must be done, the sooner the better and easier. Otherwise, there are consequences to face for having made the bad choice of deciding to wait. Since those are jobs I don’t want to handle now, why didn’t I simply take care of things earlier?

Procrastination is an interesting element of human nature. We know what must be done and when, but oddly, sometimes (and hopefully not often) we allow work needs to slide, until suddenly they loom as demands. Experiences teaches that anticipating work usually is worse than actually fulfilling it. Hmm, this probably deserves more thought, but thankfully, not right now.

I’m on my way outside to take care of needed work.

Dear Friends: Forgive my having slacked, I’m trusting today to perform better. Diana

Sunday, July 05, 2020

I’ve been hooked on the Chinese drama series, “Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace”, a sumptuous watching experience, it’s visually glorious with lovely soundtrack themes. It’s long, Season One is endless with 87 episodes, its cast seemingly consists of thousands. To my Western eye, it’s often hard to distinguish who’s who, except for an individual’s makeup or perhaps for her style of eye-rolling.

What got my interest aside from the acting talent in key lead roles has been the series’ overall beauty and its musical soundtrack. I’ve needed some time to discover who’s singing on the soundtrack. The search has me discovering some of China’s popular crossover artists. For example, a stunning vocalist is the coloratura soprano, Lei Jia. She performs on “Ruyi’s” soundtrack, her available recordings in Chinese are captivating, and she’s also a key soprano with the Metropolitan Opera.

I’ve long been out of touch with a modern world of classical music. My preference has been for the classics, mostly listening to well-known singers and musicians who perform spotlessly. Recently, it’s captured me to discover that there are young and incredibly talented artists who demand attention. For example, there’s the crossover pianist, Juji Wong, who in action is pure dynamite.

The new blends of world music make listening fun, interesting, and has fostered artistic creativity in all aspects of musical production and performance. This has carried into the visual arts–like the “Ruya’s” series–eighty-seven episodes, about competition and misbehavior in a harem! Occasionally the script seems a bit boring, but certainly never its blend of social history and crossover artistry.

Dear Friends: These weeks have encouraged online searching and yielded worthy outcomes. Diana

Saturday, July 04, 2020 Independence Day

This year’s holiday is short on firework supplies and so far the environment has been less noisy, and many annual typically big and colorful celebrations are cancelled. In my neighborhood, after hearing only one brief round of poppings, I’m relieved, for tonight might remain quiet and the dogs may rest well.

July 4th is a very strange holiday anyway. Fireworks do more than disturb peach, quiet, and rest. They’re especially awful as easy sources of injuries for kids. I’m thinking back a million years to when we kids annually played with firecrackers, little explosive devices that caused many injuries and eventually became illegal. Their replacement, fireworks, are less noisy, more colorful, but also do cause injuries. These days, fireworks mostly are left to the hands of professionals for displaying.

It’s reasonable that nations have historical events taught to children, remembered when those kids become adults, and passed along to a newer generation. Many people’s historical references are from annual celebrations, of national events, significant lives, and technological spectacles (for example, the early moon shots–flyovers, landings, and tragic misses).

A common sense of major events bind a nation’s residents. It’s no accident that a video production of “Hamilton” has begun streaming for free over this July holiday. If there’s too little of lights and noise to remind us of our nation’s beginnings, we’ll experience the early politics in costume and music.

Maybe we’ll learn that this holiday can be great without lots of racketing and skylighting.

Dear Friends: Have a wonderful weekend and be safe. Diana

Friday, July 03, 2020

Wow, I’ve been listening to Nina Simone and Janis Joplin. What a way to begin a morning, trying to wake up while listening to these artists. They transform ordinary feelings into a sort of emotional rollercoaster, from which one not wanting to escape wants more. But reality prevails and outside are waiting hungry horses.

Yesterday, I rode in a small relatively unknown area. Years ago my explorer, horseback loving friends, Julie and Dave, introduced me to this area, where often my dogs and I might go to amble around. Our little hour-long hike consists of a loop, about a mile and a half that I’ve considered the territory’s extent. Not long ago, Dave disagreed, saying “You can ride out there as far as you want.” I began to wonder and so decided to go there with my horses as well as the dogs.

As usual, I rode one horse, ponied another with Pimmy following and the dogs running alongside. Instead of turning as usual to start my familiar circle, I kept the horses moving straight ahead. We followed a little trail that soon moved us into desert lands. We walked surrounded by sage, bitterbrush, and wildflowers. We trod alongside large rocky formations and near old dry stream cavities. It was a beautiful place.

The event was awesome. Instead of limiting the outing, I decided to trust my friends, and as they promised that territory seemed to expand. The area isn’t huge but its network of trails make it seem so. My horseback ride was fine. The running dogs wore themselves out. Topping all were my senses of pleasure, freedom, and comfort. Those good feelings remained with me on the way home and lasted through the afternoon.

Dear Friends: Once open to possibilities of discovering beauty, we find it all around us. Diana

Thursday, July 02, 2020

It appears that Costco’s food demo program will return to life in a month or two. I received a notice from my former employer inquiring about my interest in working again. Well, yes, extra money would be welcome in these tight times.

By the time of demo restarts, it might be unsafe relative to distancing and germ-spreading to hand out food samples. The notice to assess my interest also asked about my willingness to “dry sell”. That means talking about a product instead of providing samples. We experienced sample servers always find it more difficult to dry sell because customers love receiving free samples. Most folks rarely are interested in pausing just to listen. After these months of hiatus and no income, most experienced sample servers willingly will do the required talking.

It’s been lovely, having many weeks without paid-work obligations, but I’ve missed my fellow employees and also casual acquaintances among the Costco workers and shoppers. This small city has only one Costco, so one becomes acquainted with many who regularly are there. Last week, I shopped at Costco and noticed that the food court has reopened–a signal of the store’s re-expanding offerings.

Following my former employer’s inquiry and my affirmative response, I’ll await what develops. In case all goes smoothly toward my rehiring, I must start to wrap my head around the idea of returning to work. That does sound okay, but will mean less time with my horses and other critters, less time to work on improving my property, and less time to do the reading that feeds my brain. It will interfere, too, with with my forest-trekking, with dogs, to hunt mushrooms.

This long non-working period (and my first-ever) has been wonderful.

Dear Friends: On the verge of discovering, experiencing the long-anticipated new normal. Diana

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

While punching buttons on my newly installed powerful car radio, I found jazz coming from a station in the Portland area. Cool sounds from a trumpet, Miles! My searching finger paused.

Caught in surprise, I wondered where I’ve been? What have I chosen to listen to after those old days of innovative new jazz? Why haven’t I continued following sounds from such as Brubeck, Coltrane, Monk, and Hancock? What about the talented ladies I loved, like Holiday, Fitzgerald, and Vaughn?

My radio listening in Central Oregon, and through an average component, has limited my choices. Easily accessible stations provide sounds that most current listeners enjoy. The best receptions come from stations providing country-western, rock ‘n roll, rap, pop, religious, and acid rock. Sometimes I tune into one of those, but my dial most often sets on NPR.

Thinking about my musical past, maybe I began to drift from listening to music when CDs started making way for online streaming. There had been problems with CDs. Players sensitive to dust often failed. The disks needed care and cleaning. Streaming seemed easier, but somehow not to me.

Don’t misunderstand, I like many modern artists and can listen with joy. NPR usually finds my music, and I’m attentive but don’t purchase recordings. These modern times offer a variety of streaming venues that capably fill many visual and sound needs. A streaming retrospective of something like Nina Simone’s work is to experience wonderful music from the past.

Finding the Portland jazz station reawakened me to artists and sounds from which today’s best music evolves. I’m not necessarily in tune with all that’s currently popular, but easily do appreciate the musical beginnings. The jazz station reminds that everything today stems from the swing era, the big bands and their singers. Then came the innovators who creatively improvised on earlier swing sounds.

I’m going modern, am streaming the Portland jazz station while writing. It’s making me remember, is refreshing, but also distresses. I’ve bypassed music and removed elements that touch my soul. These days of social and political stress make it feel extra-good to immerse my head in the old days of swing and jazz standards.

Dear Friends: The college station, KMHD Jazz Radio, is worthwhile listening. Diana

Tuesday, June 30 2020

Casting my gimlet eye through Hulu’s Asian offerings, I stumbled across “Ruyi”, a one-season series with 87 episodes. I’m interested in Asian filmwork, particularly from China. Unfortunately, many Chinese (and other Asian) offerings are too light, silly, generally uninteresting, but the best simply are unbeatable.

My love for Chinese film started in 1993 with the historical drama, “Farewell My Concubine,” a two-and-one-half hour movie. It’s visually lovely with a riveting story revolving around two performers in the Beijing Opera and a woman who comes between them. It’s segments include bits of classical Chinese opera, strains alien to Western ears. The combination of lush beauty, fine story, and excellent performances made it easy to absorb that music at a deep level.

In comparison, the series “Ruyi” is lightweight in storytelling terms. Its action occurs in the 1730s and deals with widespread manipulation and conspiracy within a young, inexperienced Emperor’s domain. A couple of superb elements hold me to the series. My eyes cannot move from the film’s astonishing beauty and color in period settings and traditional apparel. Another glorious feature is a soundtrack combining Western style and Asian musical components, it’s beautiful and captivating.

While observing that film’s 1730s Chinese society, my thoughts move ahead to 1775’s bloody battles between America’s newly-arrived Puritans and its Native Indians. “Ruyi’s” well-honed Chinese social order is a stark contrast to the recently-arrived Puritan religiosity against already-established social orders. Our commonly-understood world history teaches that initial conflicts eventually bring social restructurings. Today’s technology has us experiencing and observing firsthand that societal conflicts just continue, hopefully to evolve as improved restructurings.

If you love sounds, colors, and beauty overall, check out “Ruyi”, it’s streaming on Hulu.

Dear Readers: In styles of human thinking and comportment, changes are slow. Diana