The New Normal

I decided to take a picture even though the morning light is dull and grey.  Later today the temperatures outside will heat up into the lowest side of the 80's.  With humidity.  Deciding on the appropriate clothing for work in a greenhouse is becoming my most challenging decision of the day.  And so early.  My thinking cells aren't firing yet.

I received a thank you note at work yesterday. In the company mail. Which was a surprise and a delight. I have only once before gotten something from a customer.  No three times.  Once a tip.  Once a bag of sweet peaches.  And now this note.  It feels good.  And I paid it forward.  On a call to Pottery Barn I got Vince.  He was having a long hard day and only had 30 more minutes on his shift.  We managed to have a bit of a giggle while he took my order.  I am getting a new duvet cover for my bed.  A pretty flowered blue.  And later, I got to fill out a survey regarding Vince's customer service.  I said the only thing that would have made me happier--would have been getting my purchase free.  How's that?  My repartee with Vince reminded me of the happy times when I worked the 800 line for a magazine supplier.  The calls would come in and we would discuss the weather, the day etc and then get down to business.  It was fun and it was so personal in an impersonal day.

I also had a delightful chat with a customer wanting many more flats of rose colored dahlias.  She was lining the paths to her vegetable garden.  Making the walk (visually and literally) very pleasant and beautiful at the same time.  I was struck by how such a simple design element could change the way we see the chore of going down to the garden to work.  I shared my new "tip" of going into the garden before work with my kitchen timer set on 45 minutes.  I manage to get quite a bit done in that short time (is it because I know I don't have to stay forever?) and stop when the timer goes off then I wash up and head into work.  My onions are all in the ground as are the marigolds (lining the new beds) and the calendula.  Still no peas.

My local library (and former employer) is removing from the shelves any fiction that has not been checked out in the last five years.  Tens and twenty boxes books.  It would seem that the choices made for new fiction purchases were not popular with the library's patrons.  Or, that the library patrons are ordering their reading material on line and other libraries fulfill requests before we do.  Time will tell if this was a good decision.  I feel libraries should be a repository of books for years and years to come.  Who knows who will want to read those discarded books in the next ten or twenty years.  I remember visiting the brand new county library with my friend K in Georgia.  Everything in the building, books included, was brand new.  If it hadn't been published in the past 18 months, it didn't exist in this library.  I found it heartbreaking.  What do you think?

My lunch today is Greek yogurt with sliced fresh peaches from Trader Joes.  I have been eating fresh fruit.  I didn't eat any fruit last summer on the diet but since I am not actually losing any weight, but maintaining, I am eating fruit.  Fresh mangoes, peaches, strawberries.  I am looking forward to the short season for ripe apricots and big bags of cherries.

Time to wake up the dog.  Yes, he is sleeping.  And get going.  I plan to stop at the library for books (for G) before going to work.  I also need to pull the tomato seedling wagon out of the garage and back into the yard (under the oak tree) for the day.  Planting them on Thursday afternoon after work.