“The Dog” Journal
Welcome to the Dog Journal, a blog where I periodically share my best finds for taming those puppies that gnaw at your planner.
Could be a quick time management tip, a smell-the-flowers moment, a comment overheard on the elevator. Whatever the inspiration, I hope you’ll blog right along with me by commenting and sharing your tips and stories for taming an overbooked life.
What Happened To Ordinary Snow?
Frantic speed-talking and what-iffing is the new news norm. Even in the case of ordinary snow.
Today’s long-expected storm somehow blew in as a shock, where midwestern reporters in mufflers, snow flying past their ears, speculated that maybe – in a few days – it could turn into a nor’easter in Maine.
With that followed pictures of the last nor’easter in Maine, complete with cars overturned in ditches and overflowing emergency rooms. Followed by A-I generated models of cars ice skating on some imaginary pond.
I’m ready for a news show called “Roll with it,” which would report ordinary weather events as ordinary. “Roll with it” would introduce a snow storm with words like “As we’ve expected.” And “Obviously, if you don’t have to go out, don’t.” End of story.
No grueling pictures of snow plows overturned on I-95. No staccato speculation that traffic might pile up for miles. No prediction that ER personnel could not possibly treat all the victims.
The school closings list would not have to run continuously on “Roll With It,” only until school was set to open. We all know that kids thoroughly monitor stormy weather beginning the afternoon before. By 7 AM, their parents are fully aware if the schools have been closed.
I don’t expect that “Roll With It” would ever apply to politics, rumored government shutdowns, or romantic liaison among the rich and famous. Only to weather. That, at least, would be a start.
What Happened to Ordinary Snow?
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Crossbody: A Start on Civility
Sometimes it seems like we’re so divided that there’s nothing left to talk safely about. While others are debating immigration, abortion and the proper education of children, I have set out to spark discussion on a topic we can all weigh in on: what is the best Crossbody Bag?
Granted, it’s not a world-changing topic. But hey. You have to start somewhere, and my Facebook post asking for Crossbody advice (Anyone have any suggestions for smallish bags that will still hold a pair of sunglasses?) garnered almost as much traffic as my photo of the lunar moth that landed on doorframe last summer
Granted, not all agreed. But the exchange was civil as friends weighed in with their faves: Herschel Heritage! Baggalini! Travelon! The Jursccu! How refreshing!
And in case you’re curious, I finally settled on a Baggallini Calais My too-small discards will soon reside at a thrift shop, awaiting new owners. Because one size does not fit all.
Rightsizing Comeuppance
I hate to admit it after beating the rightsizing drum. But the most essential wardrobe item on my recent trip to Santa Fe, NM, was a bright salmon microfiber shirt I’d tried to push on my friend Nancy a few months before in the name of rightsizing.
“It will look GREAT on you,” I insisted, “and I will never wear it again.” It had been hanging in my closet unworn since a trip to Costa Rica in 2017, and seemed to check all the boxes for repurposing. I hadn’t worn it for SIX years. I didn’t intend to revisit Costa Rica. I’d rebuffed opportunities for other sunny climes, such as Africa. And the long flappy shirt looked ridiculous for other domestic travel, aka the grocery store.
Months after Nancy politely rejected it, I threw it in my suitcase as a last-minute “layer.” And wore it four out of six days. How could this happen to someone who’s supposed the understand rightsizing? The truth is, I’d become a “just-in-case” packer.
The jacket was just in case the forecast was correct, and the daytime temperature in New Mexico was pushing 90. But what about evenings? The desert is unpredictable. What if it snowed? Rained? What if we were suddenly struck by a wind storm?
By the time I’d just-in-cased the possibilities, I had packed two vests (fleece and quilted), a packable rain jacket, a knit jacket for the plane, a light windbreaker and a hoodie and (after reading a random article about desert snow storms), and a packable winter jacket with a cap.
In one humbling trip, I encountered the rightsizer’s dilemma. Next time I say “just in case,” should I picture the bright salmon shirt? Or those seven other jackets? At least I can brag that they rode back home in the otherwise empty packable duffel I packed “just in case” I bought souvenirs. Which I did not. Except a few small ones.
