Recent small things
If I was still on Twitter in the old days, maybe some of these would’ve been posted there. But I’m not on social media and I’ve been trying to figure out how to share some of the small things, so I’m trying this. All of these thoughts or events happened in the past couple of weeks, I’ve collected them and figured it was worth a share.
We’re in a large city for the weekend so G can make use of a community darkroom and I’m wandering around. I stop off at a small fabric shop and as my fabric is being cut, I’m fairly sure by the owner, we talk about how things are going. She says things are OK, she doesn’t buy fabric from China and her suppliers have a lot of stock in the US. I’m happy that’s the case. These past months I’ve learned so much about fabric and who makes what and it’s been fascinating, even if I’m learning it because of unnecessary chaos.
Each week as I drive into the main city in our county to walk dogs at our local Humane Society I cross under an interstate overpass that has a large sign up that says “Save Democracy” or “Resist” and people are waving at the passing traffic. It’s a small thing, but it helps so much to know that there are others worried about the state of things and they’re taking time every week to do something.
I made a mistake when reupping a subscription for a streaming service and learned that customer service is almost nonexistent. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s annoying, so I’ve tried to find help but I don’t think I will in the end. It’s very telling about these times how much we rely on the internet for things and how little help we can get from companies if the process isn’t smooth. Those that do help and put the resources into service stand out.
I’ve entered my digicam era. G gave me an old camera of his, so it’s technically a bit more camera than your typical digicam, but it’s been interesting to use. I walked around on our trip with it and we did a large walk through our town and I shot a lot of pictures, they aren’t all great, but it was fun to use a proper camera. The thing I love about it is that I’m not distracted by anything else when I want to take a picture, when I pull it out, all I can do is take the picture and go back to noticing what’s around me.
I’m standing with Zizi on the leash next to me in front of several small groups of second and third graders. The kids are meeting the dogs at the Humane Society in order to do a writing assignment that has to be persuasive. Cooper, a huge fluffy dog is standing calmly and soon surrounded by kids who are petting him so much his fur is flying everywhere as he blows his winter coat. Belle is a young dog and shy, but she soon crawls on her belly towards a group of kids and they eagerly give her all the love. Soon Belle is on her belly taking it all in. Zizi is a bit indifferent, but allows kids to pet her. At the end while things are slowing down I’m talking with a Mom who is chaperoning the trip and her daughter is petting Zizi and quietly I hear the girl say, “I want her.”
I saw a t-shirt that said “Pain is weakness leaving your body.” Not sure what that means, but also know that I think it’s BS.
“I am painting, I am drawing, I’m doing photography. I’m climbing mountains and going on very long walks. I’m having little adventures, but yes, not on social media. I don’t think it’s something that would particularly serve my life, and I’m quite happy that I don’t have it.”
– Mia Threapleton, NY Times Interview