COMPLICATIONS AND EDUCATIONS

So, I’m old enough to know the words to all twenty-one verses of Don McLean’s American Pie and the interpretation thereof. And I saw Disney’s Alice in Wonderland when it first hit the movie theaters. I grew up on a dairy farm so I had a childhood rich in fertilizer, but short on store bought toys. That does not mean I didn’t have toys. My siblings and I could spend a whole afternoon entertaining ourselves with a good mud hole, some rocks and a couple of sticks. It got even better if we could involve the dog and a few chickens.

Over the years I have tried my best to keep up with the technologies thrown at me at an increasingly dizzying speed. When I first started working in graphics everything was done with an xacto knife and markers. When a computer was put on my desk I struggled through the software and the upgrades, loving the way drudgery was diminished and hating the frustrations that came with learning new tools.

I went from a tape player to CD’s to mp3’s. I figured out how to use a cell phone, a digital camera, a video camera and have combined music and pictures into short movies. Each new gadget came with a book of instructions that were boggling, frustrating and confusing. However, it has been worth the effort when the technology became familiar and fun.

R. D. Hales said, “Never dwell on the past or attempt to protect your comfort zone against the changes required to meet future advancements. Past learning creates a valuable foundation of experience upon which to build; not a comfortable place to dwell for a lifetime.”

That being said, I still think there are now way too many technical gadgets and not nearly enough playing in puddles.

SNOW PLOW

The hearty souls who spend hours driving snow plows, usually in blizzard conditions, and often all night have a thankless job. Without their hard work their neighbors would be unable to travel down the streets and roads.

However, they have to put all that snow somewhere; and it usually ends up in huge ridges across the driveways. We live on a dead-end street --four houses on each side. In years past the city sent a front loader to clear the way. They pushed the snow either into the vacant lot at the end, or dumped it into the canal at the other. Now there is a house at the end of the street.

The city sends THE BLADE, a large road grader


that backs down our street, lowers the blade,


and drives forward--forcing ALL the snow in the street to one side---our side.


DH was shoveling out the parking area around the cars this morning when the snow plow went by. I won't tell you what he said when the snow was emptied into our drive. AGAIN.

TRUANT

picture borrowed from google images
Where I work the jobs come in thick and fast in December and after Christmas orders drop off to almost nothing for month or so. Yesterday I finished everything on my desk. So when I called in today and was told there was nothing new I told them I would see them tomorrow. I grabbed my cross-country skis and headed for the hills. This time I was not carrying my camera so I thoroughly enjoyed careening down the track and sliding through the trees. I had waxed my skis for temperatures below freezing, but I could tell things were warmer than that because I was getting extra distance and speed on the downhills. I was going pretty fast for someone so awkward. My eyes were dry and the cold air was flapping my hair against my face. Most of the time, the rides down ended with a ride up, so if I could keep my skis in the set tracks I was okay. However, there is this fast slope with a curve that always gets me. And it did again today. I left the groomed trail and made a spectacular face-plant in the fluffy snow. The powder was so deep I would have lost my poles if they had not been strapped on. No harm was done and there was no one there to laugh at me so I dusted myself off and continued on. I was on the return trip when I hit another down slope with a curve. I lost my footing and was heading for the soft snow when I saw the TREE. Somehow I threw myself back to the hard track, and, in a split second, did a warrior two, transitioned to a warrior one, became airborne for a moment and ended up in a wide-angle forward bend sliding down the track on my rear. When I finally came to a stop I looked back at the tree, took a deep cleansing breath, put my hands in prayer position and said thank-you for all those hours of yoga. <:D Namaste.