Stretching

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

I have two days off! I don’t see tree limbs blowing outside, so the weather might be lovely. I’m so ready for warm and windless days. Get this: Two evenings ago, before going outside to feed my horses, I selected from my closet a long woolen coat to wear against the insistent, freezing winds. It’s mid-June!” Although the summer solstice is around the corner, I still am using inside space heaters.

Today, my first obligation is handling some waiting chores. Then I might take the dogs to the Badlands and give them a good run. That’ll also get me hiking, much needed after a couple of learning days of learning in a new workspace.

By the way, my learning there, so far, is less about selling jewelry than about handling department-critical routines in the openings and closings. Some tasks are physical and require lifting and bending that my back resists. Thankfully, my friend Susie recently demonstrated some stretching routines, which I’ve begun using. I hope stretching will increase my overall flexibility, and meanwhile, it’s boosting my self-confidence; I’m more willing to take on physical tasks.

Selling jewelry is a different animal. Selling an expensive luxury item requires technical knowledge about its design, structure, and worthiness. A jewelry seller starts by articulating specifics that address an item’s value while teaching a consumer. I’ve been listening as my mentor Marie sells. She has fantastic product knowledge and is highly sensitive to customers. I understand now that ahead my path is very challenging. While learning how to sell jewelry, I must also be searching to find my footing in that complex role.

Dear Friends: I enjoy learning challenges, and now, I’ve found a doozy. Diana

Play Ball!

Saturday, June 01, 2024

Yesterday, my friend Julie and I attended this season’s opening game. We watched the Bend Elks against the Walla Walla Sweets from seats high up in nearly full bleachers. Their game was pretty good, but we left at the top of the fifth inning because I didn’t have a warm jacket. (Here in Bend, when the sun goes down, the wind gets chilly.) I’ll go see the Elks again, next time wearing my new (official) Elks ballcap and new Elks t-shirt, and bringing an appropriate jacket.

I enjoyed seeing the game with Julie. She’s from Chicago and knows the Sox and the Cubs. She’s also a retired social worker. She observed the crowd around us, as interested in people as in the game. She pointed out relationship behaviors that showed people relaxing, bonding, and enjoying the game. In the noisy, busy stadium environment, her observations of family-like pleasantries spoke to the “human values side” of baseball.

About sociology and human values, yesterday, the department store where I work part-time said farewell to our manager, Lisa. She’s happily moving on in her career but she was in tears throughout her crew’s goodbye.

A wonderful leader, Lisa is alert and smart, quick-moving, technically capable, and people-oriented. She knows everybody who works in the store and likes us all, and she manages efficiently and effectively overall.

Here we all were yesterday. Lisa is in the middle, identified by a big, shiny necklace.

Dear Friends: After a memorable day off, I’ll be working and adapting to change today. Diana

LOL

Friday, April 11, 2024

Yesterday was National Dog Day, and I didn’t post photos of my dogs. Today is National Hamster Day, and I haven’t one of those pets. Years ago, I adopted a sweet Peruvian Guinea Pig from an animal rescue. His coat was very long and needed trimming regularly, or else, formed into rolls and grew into dreadlocks.

The guinea pig was a cute little fellow. He and my bunny, Speedo, were each pleasant pets. Speedo was a domestic white that turned up loose, hopping on my property and nibbling hay in my barn. Using an apple as bait, I trapped Speedo, and he became a house bunny. The sweet guy had been litter-box trained by somebody.

While I was thinking about interesting sorts of pets, George Rodrigue’s “Blue Dog” images began appearing in my FB feed. Years ago, I spent a week in New Orleans and I discovered The Blue Dog Gallery. Rodrigue’s sense of humor delighted me, and wow, still does.

Rodrigue, an excellent artist, snuck the Blue Dog into his larger, serious paintings. The dog always looking out of place and bewildered. This example is “Millenium 2000.”

Notice the dog has wings, is a butterfly out of place physically, and trying to process mentally.

Many Rodrigue paintings include his dog character, always out of place, trying to process.

I saw Rodriguez’s Blue Dog as representing elements of himself. Also, that dog represents an element of ourselves.

On a lofty side, we are that dog while viewing and interpreting works of art. Also, in daily living, we are that dog, for being in today’s world and attempting to comprehend the predictable vs. the unpredictable.

I enjoyed the art and that dog, but couldn’t afford a painting. Still, I barely managed to resist.

Rodrigue passed recently and that increases the value of his art. While value is a consideration, to me, his works represent more. They reflect much about ourselves.

Beyond the artist’s humor and insight, his Blue Dog is all of us, in all our whimsy.

Dear Friends: Here’s to enjoying a chuckle at ourselves. Diana