Friday, December 16, 2022

Did you know that eggshells will clog a garbage disposal? I didn’t until yesterday, when a plumber came to clear my drain. His snake found in the pipe clogged eggshells, and fortunately not too many. He explained that egg shells are too heavy to travel cleanly through a drain pipe. He added, tugging on his plumber’s hat, that what’s absolutely worst to find in a drain are chia seeds. They swell and clog mightily. He’s found that if a snake works through and creates an opening in chia seeds, they will re-close it. The usual solution, he said, is replacing the section of sewer line clogged by those seeds.

Well, live and learn. For sure, no more eggshells into my garbage disposal.

I’d barely recovered from the plumber’s visit when a text popped up advising that my new refrigerator was en route. Getting it delivered has been a mess, because ’tis the season. It was to arrive a couple of weeks ago, but first there was a warehouse shortage, and soon afterwards a heavy snow. The delivery date became more pushed back, and by yesterday, I’d not been updated. It’s impending arrival was a surprise.

The delivery fellows were very nice. Although at first saying they couldn’t touch this or that because of liability issues, they relented and did help me as needed. After completing the installation, they took my old refrigerator to load and haul away.

As they were loading, the truck’s hydraulics shifted that big truck. It began sliding down my steep driveway and got a front wheel completely stuck in deep snow. The guys couldn’t make that truck move, its rear wheels just spun. I was stunned to learn that heavy vehicle wasn’t a four-wheel, but a rear-wheel-only drive. In our efforts, they put on rear tire chains and I went searching for a shovel and kitty litter. The guys did lots of digging, attempted frequently to move the truck, and despite spinning wheels, and etc., didn’t give up. They finally got the wheel loose and the truck free again.

By the time we all waved as they drove away, I was ready to be through with yesterday. Couldn’t though, for my animals needed care and I had a couple of errands. When finally that day ended, I poured a big glass of wine.

Dear Friends: Now, besides eggshells, I will avoid making any big purchase near Christmastime. Diana

Thursday, December 14, 2022

A few years ago, my artist friend, Janet Havern, with two of her creative daughters, designed a costume for my donkey, Pimmy. We dressed Pimmy in full regalia and she was so cute, that we set up a holiday photoshoot in Havern Carpentry’s parking lot, with proceeds for charity.

On the photoshoot day, folks driving by and seeing the sign, stopped, wanting photos of Pimmy with their children, and/or with themselves. Janet, her husband, and their children, greeted and processed customers, and also handled Pimmy as I took the pictures. Pimmy cooperated throughout and everybody had fun. The event created a decent charitable contribution.

Pimmy came to live with me as a surprise. She was born wild on a California BLM, and was adopted while young by a couple living in Eugene, OR. Eventually their life circumstances changed, and they searched for a new home for Pimmy. I noticed an online posting, expressed interest, but decided against adopting an animal type about which I knew nothing.

Everything changed when equine rescuer, Kate Beardsley, stepped in and helped the Eugene couple. One day, a truck pulling a horse trailer drove to my barn. Kate followed in another vehicle, got out, greeted me and helped to open the horse trailer, saying, “Here’s Pimmy, for you!” I balked, unwilling to adopt the donkey, until Kate promised to return for Pimmy if things didn’t work out.

I couldn’t say no to one of the horse world’s savviest, and Kate had guessed right. That’s how Pimmy became my donkey.

I discovered that Pimmy was sweet and gentle. She became a wonderful companion to my horses, and bonded enough with them to follow freely as I’m riding on horse trails. This donkey has been a crowd favorite in parades, and at Christmas times has stood-in as Mary’s Christmas Eve ride into Bethlehem. The donkey is a fun ambassador to my little ranch. Passing drivers sometimes stop and ask what it’s like having a donkey. I say, “A donkey makes a great pet, and Pimmy’s just the best!”

Dear Friends: Today’s header “throwback photo,” triggers events and people, fine memories. Diana

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

I’m halfway through The Diaries of Sofia Tolstoy. Notice, it’s “Diaries” because Sofia wrote over some fifty years of marriage to that very complex genius, (and from this reader’s perspective) personally-unlikeable, Leo.

Years ago, I read War and Peace. Interestingly, I more clearly recall the movie version because of the actors, Audrey Hepburn and her real-life husband, Mel Ferrer. These days, having gained insight into the Tolstoys’ partnership, I’m tempted to reread the novel.

When the two married, Count Tolstoy was in his thirties and a well recognized author. She was a nineteen-year-old romantic who immediately learned that his interest in her totally was physical. She found Tolstoy a master at isolating his emotional life. She writes about that and adopted the role of his scribe, rewriting daily drafts and providing him with fresh pages to mark-up. Those daily new markups, she rewrote ad infinitum, assisting his creativity and expanding her insight to the inner man.

Sofia became pregnant fifteen times and delivered a dozen babies, nine of which survived. Besides her work to support Leo, she was mother, housekeeper, estate manager, and eventually liaison between the writer and his publishers. Her activities included negotiating with security forces and with Czar Nicholas himself, to offset their concerns that Tolstoy’s writings suggested communistic views. Which increasingly his did.

So, halfway through the dairies, she’s fifty-three years old and he’s seventy. She’s emotional and very bright, diligent and dependable, and now drafts stories from her imagination. The children are grown and problematic; Leo is unpredictable and unlikeable, and from Sofia’s perspective, a failed father.

Reading her diaries is long and tedious; nonetheless, I rated the work with five-stars on Goodreads.

I’m thinking more and more that Sofia’s diary could be an excellent movie. I image it becoming a script but having trouble thinking of actors who could handle the roles. More importantly, I’ve no idea which director has the chops to do justice to both story and relationship.

Dear Friends: A Kindle, in my pocket, makes a long read doable in bits of time. Diana

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Late yesterday, I fed horses in a freezing fog. I might have been standing in a world of glass. When heavy fog freezes on every surface, there’s a unique chill. One feels and sees it. The air is cold and still, the trees and bushes layered with ice coatings sparkle.

Aside from the crunching underfoot as one walks, all is eerily quiet. Freezing fogs are felt and seen, and reminders of nature’s incredible power.

The almost magical environment is a photographer’s dream. Light variations encourage us to see through new eyes.

The near background to these equines is almost hidden. The far background is a mush of thick air and clouds that effectively obliterate the Cascades.

In every direction, the fog lighting comes in varying shades.

For years, I’ve cared for some ranch style animals. That requires my trekking outside, regardless of the weather, several times daily. The current period has our year’s shortest daylights, so some of my treks are in darkness. We on ranches and farms must trek on despite freezing snow and deep fogs.

Sometimes we’re surprised and delighted, by recognizing new beauty in the environment, like yesterday afternoon’s world of glass.

Dear Friends: Today’s local world, bright and clear, remains deeply snow-frozen. Diana

Monday, December 12, 2022

Here’s a snowy road again, only this time it’s mine! This one goes straight up from my barn to the house. Notice in the lower fenced area and watching me, my loyal Border Collie, ten-year-old Miles.

Yesterday morning’s blog had me considering road images, how they can trigger human imagination. Outside, it was beginning to snow lightly, but soon the snow grew heavier.

While outside to feed my barnyard critters, I could see the landscape changing dramatically. My new cellphone captured images from down at the barn.

This closer view of the fenced area highlights heavy snow accumulated on tree branches. Also, nine-month-old Chase has joined Miles, with both hoping for an invitation to join me.

This turned into my favorite capture, for I love images that suggest stories. This one inspires equally to yesterday’s road image, by provoking feelings and notions about living, learning, and being.

I couldn’t take more pictures, for instead needing to start wading uphill. Fortunately, a pair of walking sticks on hand at the barn helped me break a “do-able path” through about eight inches of snow.

The snowing has stopped and it’s too cold for melting to occur. I’ll be outside looking creatively at not-ordinary landscapes and seeing, too, through a camera lens.

Dear Friends: We who don’t ski must find other ways to enjoy being outside in deep snow. Diana

Sunday, December 11, 2022

We could equate ordinary living to trekking on a long path toward unique goals, pointing to where we hope to wind up. That path continuously stretches onward, for goals that become reachable (or not) force new ones that loom and alter the path. We learn to recognize and accept constant necessities, like adjusting our paths, reframing our unique goals, and readapting our treks.

Those were my feelings while deciding on today’s header photo. This image isn’t from my camera, but long ago illustrated a NYT article. It suggests learning, moving on, and changing perspectives relative to what seems ahead.

I suppose these feelings are related to my successful phone changeover. Today I have a new phone, and my old phone number, as well as a different carrier: google-fi. The entire changeover was handled with online assistance from a fi-support team representative. That techie agreed with my perception that everything will transition to online.

Indeed, I took a quick afternoon trip to Costco and saw its cellphone kiosk closed. That used to be one of the store’s busiest spots.

Before going to google, I planned to change phones in the Verizon Store, but couldn’t get help. There were too few employees to service a long waiting line. I was short on time and left, to seek an alternative. I’ll admit, it is wonderful , having a live representative do all the work. For me, changing phones and transferring data became a learning journey, which took me through phone cords, wi-fi connections, mythical cloud storages, and more.

I’m interpreting that changing over in that new way was a goal achieved on my personal road to wherever.

Dear Friends: It’s snowing heavily outside now but there’s light this morning inside my head. Diana

Saturday, December 10, 2022

Here’s my lead mare, Rosie, during one of our recent snows. She is Sunni’s older (full) sister and guards a trio which includes Pimmy Donkey. This image is a good one for posting later to the Facebook world.

I am tangled in a mess. I purchased a new phone, from google, and elected google-fi as its carrier. The phone coverage should be fine, but google is without brick and mortar locations. All google-fi business (and support, if one finds it) is online.

I’m stuck in multi-failures to move data from my old to a new phone.

This change was appropriate because I’ve accepted self-servicing as the future. That became apparent when I worked in a grocery store. Most customers complained of hating to self-checkout. However, that will become the norm unless the economy shifts, with employees becoming easier to afford, attract, hire, and retain.

I thought, why not give all online a go? Won’t google make everything relatively easy?

Well, not for me.

Complicating the hands-on challenges is that I’m also transitioning from an iPhone to a Pixel 7. After several years of having and enjoying iStuff, I’ve concluded at heart I’m a droid person. Probably because my online life began and matured with android products. Now, after several years with Apple products and without serious complaints, I’m opting for a Pixel. I used to have one and liked it.

Brick and mortar locations like Verizon’s make changing over easy. There, the knowledgeable humans do all setting up a new phone, transferring data, and fine tuning. I’m very lost after a week of interacting with google support and attempting to transition my data. Add in time pressures; a complete turnover must occur during a window allowing a return of old phone for credit.

I’m unloading but not exploding. The local weather helps with ongoing snow and winds, discouraging outside escapes to play. It does encourage short treks out with a camera to capture old views now looking new. Plus, there are my dogs, happy with me, outside or inside, and regardless of what I’m doing or my mood.

Dear Friends: Now back to work, and with hopes of retaining my long-time phone number. Diana

Friday, December 09, 2022

Remember this header photo from one of my recent blogs? I used Photoshop and managed to extract my Christmas cactus from an overall messy image. I gave it an abstract background but couldn’t straighten the plant and improve its overall effect. I’m a newbie to Photoshop and didn’t know how.

After working more with Photoshop and learning, here’s that plant again.

Now, remember this image of my other blooming Christmas cactus?

It wasn’t straight, I didn’t like the background, and have practiced with Photoshop. Here’s the update. It has been straightened but is edited imperfectly. I’m challenged to improve it and to insert a non-white background.

For now, I’ll settle for what’s what and be pleased for making some progress. I’ll work more with this complex cactus using Photoshop to make it pop more fully and give it a background.

Dear Friends: One step at a time in working through this complex editing software. Diana

Thursday, December 08, 2022

The header is last night’s December “Cold Moon” at its fullest. This was my first space-capture with a new zoom camera. This image doesn’t disappoint and practice will improve future ones.

Speaking of practice, I did shoot into the sky at midday several days earlier.

This is a common sight overhead, I think it’s purpose is to train new pilots.

Another common sight is Broken Top and wild geese. It’s my first image of geese in flight and represents a high moment. Geese overhead in formation and noisy are an exciting sight. This image of them flying above my favorite Cascade, Broken Top, is a winner.

We’ve had a long string of days with freezing weather and snow. It’s tiring in the cold, feeding large animals and working on the property. My camera is a worthwhile buddy in this stressful weather, a reminder of good sightings.

Dear Friends: I’ve been shooting on autofocus and now will shift to manual focus and compare. Diana

Wednesday. December 7, 2022

This was a “throwaway” shot during my camera practice yesterday. I was standing about thirty feet from Sunni and randomly clicking the shutter. While eating hay from the ground she suddenly looked up. Bingo! This capture ranks high among my favorite images.

It’s cool in photography that a least planned capture may offer great potential. Taking time to explore a raw image’s details might reveal hidden gems. I’ve benefitted several times from doing that.

Several years ago, I cut uninteresting bits from three photos and stitched them together to create a story. That early composition became Pimmy looking at the moon above the Cascades.

That pleasing result upped my game and made me start considering Photoshop. I’m trying to learn that software these days.

The header picture of Sunni could use a background. That’s a challenge because of how her mane is blowing. The trick is to capture all the wispy mane parts. I’ve not yet figured out how to isolate all including the wisps.

This will be brief for today a new refrigerator arrives to replace my kitchen unit. The now-kitchen one will replace the current garage unit which will be hauled away. This morning, I must create a wide enough path through the garage for a refrigerator and dolly to pass and empty both refrigerators.

I’ll see you again on the other side.

Dear Friends: Last night, my zoom camera might have captured the Space Station, hopefully. Diana