Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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Libraries Rule

Lately  as I am working at the library I think about a quote I heard last week on NPR, about public libraries having to do more with less resources.   How true; where else can a person go to get information as wide ranging as a DVD to learn Belly Dancing  and a children’s picture book about recycling? Yet there I am, in a small Midwestern town late at night, finding material needed by my patrons on just those topics. It takes only moments to find what they need, they get to use it and then return it so others can use it too. Libraries are just amazing places.  And as the economy continues its downturn more and more people are figuring that out.

Over the past week or so I’ve  been helping young people look for information on different inherited diseases.  Apparently there’s an assignment out there in the local school system which requires at least two print references in addition to whatever information they find on the web.   I appreciate the teacher requiring them to look at print materials, and I am steering most of the students to the medical encyclopedias we have in our reference area, though sometimes we find good stuff in the stacks as well.  Tonight I worked with a young man looking for information on cystic fibrosis.  We found some generic material, but we stumbled upon some other stuff that would put a different slant on his paper, and he got all excited.  That is so fun to watch!

Last night I had a group of first graders in for a tour of the library.  I think I converted about 5 of the 7 into maybe growing up to be readers.  OK.  I know that one visit and tour of the library won’t a reader make, but 5 of them got library cards and checked books out.  I conveniently forgot to give them a tour of the DVD’s; we practiced finding stuff in the nonfiction and biography sections, and they had fun, so maybe they’ll be back!  That was fun to watch too.

So all in all, I’m enjoying my new career, seeing its impact on a community, feeling part of some sort of solution to growing problems.  Can’t think of a place I’d rather work.  And that’s the best part of all.


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Sleeping?

The challenge from Josh and Jess is to find a picture of our Sheltie sleeping. After reviewing over 1000 pictures of Katie I have to say there are very few with her eyes actually closed! She hears the sound of the camera turning on and she’s AWAKE! But here is one that shows her true self, as Sara says, she’s a “pillow dog.”
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It's a new day

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I woke up early this morning, around 5:00 and instantly felt like I had to get to work.  On something, though I wasn’t sure what.   Somehow the  inaugural had seeped into the inner layers of my brain and  I felt like this morning was the beginning of a new chapter.  It’s a new chapter in everyone’s life, and I for one was raring to go.  Of course it’s just as efficient to think about things I could/should do while still reclined under warm covers…so I did.  What can I do to make a difference?  What can I come up with that combines things I love with things that are needed?

I’m still contemplating that as the sun rises in the eastern sky, the air warms and the snow glistens.  It’s going to take some thought, but I need to do something.  If every person found something to do that added to the good of us all…well…that’s almost too exciting to think about!  Sort of like Christmas Eve, when all the presents are under the tree, still wrapped, still untapped potential, and you’re about 8 years old.  Just too much to comprehend as a whole.

So I’m going to work on what I can do.  I’ll leave the contemplation about what all of you can do to you.

The cutest comment I heard last night at the library regarding the Washington events:  “Bush was the only president I’ve know my whole life! I don’t know if I’ll like the new guy.” –  by a little girl about 6 or 7 years old.


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Hope

Listening to President Obama’s speech today the words that struck me most (and there were several that held my attention) were:  “On this day we have gathered because we have chosen hope over fear.” It has felt for so many months that the only news was bad news, that things just got worse and worse. And while I don’t expect him to single-handedly fix everything…at least not by the end of next week…I do feel a bit hopeful that some things will be better. Maybe the stock market will rally…maybe some people’s homes will be saved from foreclosure, maybe there will be more jobs available, maybe people will work together for common goals, maybe people will just be kinder to each other.

So how long does this honeymoon last? How much time do we give this administration to show progress before we fall back into our negativity and divisiveness? Maybe if we each try to do one kind thing a day, collectively we can make a difference. Maybe collectively we can keep the sense of hopelessness and despair at bay while the big problems are being worked on.

We can make it together.   We can choose hope.


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A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

It seemed like a lot going on this weekend, and yet not so much.  Katie and I did agility on Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon I drove through snow to Ann Arbor to attend a concert at the University of Michigan, Sunday morning I drove back home, again in snow, so that I could work at the library Sunday afternoon, and now Monday  I’m enjoying a day off thanks to Martin Luther King, watching inauguration doings on television and cooking stew.

During agility Katie and I practiced a lot on all the different equipment.   She got over her fear of the dogwalk, and loved leaping up and over the A-frame.  She still had problems with the chute, and had to have it held open for her to run through, but she ran through the tunnel no problem and even went over a very high jump that had been left high after a German Shepard had jumped before her.  No problem!  Then we got to the teeter totter which she decided she hated.   The instructor and I worked with her for quite a long time, but only succeeded in making her afraid of the dogwalk and the A-frame again!  Just doesn’t like that yellow paint.  Oh well, we’ll try again next Saturday.

The concert in Ann Arbor was lovely.  It was called a Collage concert, all the departments in the University’s music, dance and drama departments participated.  The stage had either the band or the orchestra in the center, and smaller groups along the edge, the chorus on risers along the back.  What was really cool is that while the spotlight was on a particular group and they were preforming, other groups were coming and going, and as one group ended, the next began, the spotlight moving to them.  It was snippets of music, dance and drama, one right after the other, each piece totally different from the one before.  It moved really fast and was fascinating and wonderful.  At one point lights reflected off the cymbals and threw patterns of moving light on the wall.  For an instant I panicked thinking Katie would start barking at the moving light!  And later I noted that concerts are sort of like agility, except it’s the musicians and dancers all taking cues from the conductor rather than dogs taking cues from their handlers.  This particular concert probably felt more like that because there was such a sense of quick movement between the groups of performers.  It just felt so similar to what I had been doing with Katie earlier in the day, in an odd sort of way. I have to say I loved the four cellos playing Fandango by Jeremy Crosmer, and the group of five saxophones who played The Girl with the Flaxen Hair by Claude Debussy, the dozen or so drummers doing Samba Batucada arranged by Sissauyhoat; but my favorite turned out to be the full orchestra playing Nimrod from Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar.  It just made my heart swell and float away it was so beautiful.

Working at the library Sunday was fun as well, I was at a different location than I had ever worked before, so there was the usual questions from me as to where stuff was.  But this particular library had patrons that checked out books!  Real books!  Of course there were also the movies and music going out the door, but a big percentage of the stuff heading out were books!  I was elated and the time flew by.  Once home I realized I was tired, I’d been on my feet nearly the whole time because it was such a busy branch.

And today, Katie is wound up, needing attention as I try to watch news from Washington.  We went outside a bunch of times, but Katie wasn’t happy to be in her plowed out walkway.  The snow is up to her shoulders now, we got 5 or 6 more inches of snow over the weekend.  She wanted to go PLAY in the snow.

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So we did.  I put the long leash on her and the high boots on me and we went out in the back yard to play.  She loved running and leaping in the snow, and we only came in because my fingers were freezing.  Hard to try taking pictures of her while running and trying not to fall in the knee deep snow yourself!

It’s a wonderful, optimistic time for all of us.  Katie is grateful for the run.  I’m grateful for the hope I see coming from Washington.  Maybe we’ve hit the bottom; the bottom of the winter, the bottom of the economic downturn…maybe we’re headed back up into the light.

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Winter can be over now. For sure.

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It’s record breaking cold around here, and a lot of other places too.  This morning I layered up with sweaters, scarves, hat, coat, gloves and boots, and picked Katie up to carry her out to her favorite place.  I thought the -6 was too cold for her to be walking on the snow.  As soon as I put her down she turned and hightailed it back to the front door.  Mission not accomplished.  She didn’t ask to go out again until much later in the day, when I again carried her out, she did her stuff and we trotted back to the house at high speed.  At least by then it was merely zero degrees, a definite improvement.

There are several good things about today though, even with the cold temperatures.  I have the entire day off!  And there is very little wind, so we are appreciating the bright blue sky, the sunshine and the pretty white snow. Of course we’re enjoying it mostly from inside the warmth of our house.  I’m experimenting with a new recipe for soup, with carrots and peanut butter plus a touch of lime juice… and later on I’m trying a new chicken dish for dinner.  There are gentle, softly aromatic smells coming from the kitchen.   It’s been a good day, even with the chill.

Here’s a photo I took of Katie today, as she watched me from inside the house, through the frosty storm door.  Shelties are SOOOO smart!

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She and I hope you are enjoying your day too!  Even if it’s darn cold out.  Remember, we’re halfway through January…and February is a short month, so we’re not so far away from spring!  Right?  And more proof of that are the seed catalogs I’ve been receiving in the mail.  Seed catalogs in mail = hope for spring.  At least where I come from!

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What's the definition of "cold?"

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It’s been cold here. A couple of nights ago as I was driving home from work, a trip of about 40 miles, the temperature dropped from 5 degrees when we left the library to -5 when I pulled into my driveway. This morning as Katie and I ventured out for our morning walk it was zero degrees out; the kind of cold that makes your fingers ache even in their heavy gloves. The sun was just coming up, and everything was lit with that special rosy early morning glow.

We could see where the deer had crossed our yard, looking for food, digging in the snow to find even the tiniest bits of grass.

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Now, a bit over an hour later our temperature is -6 degrees, the sun shining on the brilliant white snow.  I went outside to put more birdseed on the feeder, and it was so cold that the snow didn’t even stick to my boots.  I think it’s the kind of cold that is best experienced from inside.  Perhaps on our comfy and warm blanket!

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Hope all of you are warm and safe!

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Reevaluating assumptions

Last night at the library I was struck by a learning moment…for me. A young man, perhaps 9 or 10, stopped by the desk, and in a soft voice asked me if we had Beethoven. I started looking through the catalog for the movie about the big dog. Not seeing it, I asked the other librarian if she had seen it, totally ignoring the soft voice saying he wanted Beethoven on a CD. Eventually (and I have to say a bit ashamedly not quickly) his voice wound its way into my brain. He wanted a CD. Music, not the movie. He wanted Beethoven music.

He had been listening to some Beethoven on one of our computers and he wanted to know if we had the CD.  While we searched the CD shelves I asked if he played an instrument. He said no. I asked if he was was working on a project about Beethoven at school. He said no. Turns out he just likes listening to it. He left with one CD and ordered three more to be sent from another branch. Mostly piano concertos, a couple done with violin.

After he left I sat myself down and knocked myself up the side of the head. Because of his age I had leaped to the assumption that he wanted a movie about a dog. Even with added evidence, him softly clarifying that he wanted a CD not a DVD, I stayed with what I thought was the truth far beyond when I should have been listening to him. It’s a lesson I’ve had to learn before, and apparently I needed to learn once again. You can’t tell what a person is interested in based on the way they look.

Really.