Linda's profileMitchowl's MusingsPhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
October 27 Small Town LivingThere are many things I love about living in a small town. I love knowing where all the great spots are to eat or shop. My son enjoys the free pizza given to him at Dominos because he's such a loyal customer the owner has taken a shine to him. I love having the manager of another store pull me over to show me something that "just came in and I knew you'd love it".
This town used to be a lot smaller. In fact when I was growing up I probably knew about 90% of the population by name. Then our 2 year college became a 4 year university. And then they built a temple here. And the town boomed. There are some advantages to living in a bigger town. There are more places to eat, more "future friends" to get to know, and more services available. We don't always have to head on down the road 25 miles to Idaho Falls to buy shoes, or carpet, or ... , you get the picture.
There is one thing about living in a small town that hasn't changed, though. It seems like every where I go I run into people I've had a "bad history" with. It is so hard to forget and move on when you have to continually run into people who have wronged you.
I had an experience on Saturday that brought up an issue that happened over 5 years ago. I went to get a new cell phone as my old one was almost unusable. Here's what I wrote down about that event.
I went into the Rexburg store to see about getting a phone upgrade. My phone has been giving me problems for months.
“D” was the available representative. I really hesitated going to him because I know how much he despises our family. (He blames my daughter for how his sister was treated in high school sports.)
I thought he would be professional so I went ahead and went over to his desk. From the onset he was curt and unfriendly. He never looked at me or offered any information without me asking. This is how it went.
Me: “I would like to see about getting a new phone.” “D”: “What’s wrong with your old phone?” Me: “It doesn’t ring half the time, I get my messages a couple of days later, and I can’t hear on it.”
“D” then takes my phone and opens the back and then starts typing on his computer. At least 5 minutes goes by without a word from him. Finally I say, “So, what are you seeing?” “D”: “I’m just seeing when you got your phone.”
At least 3 more minutes go by and I finally say, “And what did you find out?”
“D” totally ignores my question and keeps staring at his screen.
I say: “Would you like me to go to somebody else? I’m sensing a real attitude here.” “D” (still without looking at me and total hostility in his voice): “no, that’s okay.”
Then he takes my phone and disappears into the back room. Still no word on what he’s found out or any other information. A few more minutes goes by and then he comes back with a stack of boxes which he puts down on the desk in front of me. He points to them one at a time and says, “$60., $10, $10, $30” (I may have the prices wrong, but he basically just told me the cost of each.)
I pushed one of the boxes towards him and said I would take that one.
He took it and started doing whatever he had to do, still without looking at me or saying a word. I asked him to switch over my contacts. He doesn’t say a word but keeps working on the phone. I’m not sure if he’s doing it or not. He finally tells me the cost, I pay him and then he finally looks at me and says, “is that all?”
**sigh** It's times like this that I just want to move away. October 15 Tinted TwilightIdaho has the best evening skies. People who move here tell us that all the time. I never really noticed the sky at twilight time until my college years. I was in Anatomy and Physiology. It was a rigorous course with a top notch professor. He expected and usually got alot out of us. There was so much course work to cover that we all became very good at accelerated note-taking. And yet every year, about this time he would say to his class as we settled into our seats, "put away your pencils and just listen". What happened next was life changing. He talked to us about gratitude. About our wonderful bodies and how they were so extraordinary. How we should be grateful for the way the air we breathe and the food we eat was not only delicious to us, but that the wonderful human machine could turn it all into the resources it needed to thrive. He talked to us about being grateful for our surroundings. For the cold winters in Idaho. He said we should never complain about it because it was the cold that killed many of the germs that made everyone sick. He told us to watch for the winters when conditions were milder and see if colds and flu weren't more prevelant.
And he told us to look up as we hurry home to our apartments after class.
"Idaho has some of the best sunsets in the world. How many of them have you seen in the last 60 days?" I realized that I hadn't seen any. That very evening I looked up. And ever since then I have been looking up every chance I get.
And boy have I been blessed.
October 11 Ballerinas and Trees
My daughter Abby is a photography major. She's just starting out on her quest to becoming a great capturer of images, but she's doing really well. She can "see". Those of you who are photographers know what I mean. She just needs more practice but she'll be really good. On her blog she showed a few photos of a photographer that she admires. Rodney Smith. The shots that Abby put on were Ballerinas. (I didn't know you wanted to be a ballerina, Abby. Shame on your mother for not putting you in classes.)
October 06 Peaceful Evening
Tangerine rimmed sky.
October 05 A Couple of my Favorite Faces.....
The last assignment for my photo class was to capture some faces. I used fill in flash on some of them.
Nathan, my grandson, was here for the weekend. Oh yea, his parents were here too, ha ha. Nathan just loves to go outside. Even though it was a rainy cold weekend he wanted to keep taking his outside walks. The last time I took him out, Abby grabbed this silly hat and put it on him. He seemed to like it.
Joni is a lot of fun to photograph. I think it's because she's got a lot of "attitude". I get a lot of looks like this one.
Even though I took this one in July I decided to add it. I love the way both Joni and Mike look in it. Very happy. Joni is happy that she survived nursing school and Mike is happy she graduated Summa Cum Laude. I'm happy that this photo turned out so great. October 02 Up Close and Personal
Macro shots for my photo class. Some are better than others, but they're my babies and I love them all, ha ha.
|
|
|
