It Just DAWNED on Me

I did not expect to see the sun this morning, let alone its gorgeous appearance over the Cabinets.

 

Snow. Snow. Snow.  That’s what we heard on every weather forecast yesterday.

So, when I looked out the window prior to going outside to do my chores, I was pleasantly surprised to see various tones of pink forming a backdrop for Pend Oreille Peak.

Hmmm. I might even be able to take some photos, I thought, while coming downstairs from my computer and commenting to Bill, “Well, at least we’ll have a little while this morning without snow.”

Simple gifts.  Much appreciated with the weather woes we’ve been enduring for what seems like forever.

So, I did take my camera outside and managed to snap a few neat photos of the lovely dawning of a new April day.

I had already been outside in the darkness before the dawn, only to flip on the lights in the barn to see Lily standing in her stall in semi slumber.

Only thing new in that stall were about four piles of horse apples she had deposited since my midnight visit.  So, I left her to her slumber and the piles for later pickup.

On my second morning visit, Lily was more awake and stretching her head over the top board in her box stall, this time waiting for breakfast.

These interludes in the barn during dark hours of the night have been my nightly routine for two weeks now. I do wonder if after baby horse appears I’ll have a chance to sleep all night.

That does not happen very often generally, but I do know that during this “waiting and watching” period, there’ll be no chance for that luxury.

Fortunately, sleep has come fairly quickly after each nocturnal trip to the barn. So, all is well.

Lily and Lefty happily went out the barn door to a slightly frozen-over barnyard to enjoy their breakfast and I proceeded to clean stalls.

While doing so, I learned from KPND that today is National Siblings Day.  Lo and Behold, good ol’ Facebook took care of that for me.  When I opened up my newsfeed just a few minutes ago, there we were in all our glory 43 years ago----siblings, parents, in-laws, nephew, even an aunt and uncle.

We posed for a photo during our North Boyer bridal picnic the night before Bill and my wedding.  Chris Pietsch, our neighbor and wedding photographer, who’s gone on to do some remarkable things with a camera over his career, lined us up by the garage and captured one of the few family photos we have.

He sent me the photo a couple of years ago, knowing that I had lost many of my family pictures in our fire back in 1984.  So, I posted it on Facebook, and, by golly, the folks at Facebook must have known it was National Siblings Day.

Thanks to Facebook for helping me keep my life straight.  I watched a segment on “60 Minutes” last night, featuring a Silicon Valley programmer who has written a paper and gone on the speaking circuit enlightening people that the engineers behind various forms of social media incorporate various ways to keep us addicted.

I definitely could relate, especially because I’m already a journalist, and one of the most rewarding aspects of journalism is instant gratification through feedback and through seeing what we’ve written on display.

So, the fact that I, like millions of other social media users, often check my daily postings for “likes” already comes with the territory.

I don’t know if this is bad or if this is good.  

In my case, after immersing myself in a few forms of social media, I still find interpersonal communications, involving my mouth and my ears and my eye contact, along with hopefully someone else’s eyes, ears and mouth just as fulfilling as checking Facebook or email.

Thus, I have no idea if social media has caused me more harm than good. I do know that I enjoy this form of keeping connected, and I often think about all the people from my past with whom I’ve reconnected and how it would be if that never happened.

We’ve had generations before us who never experienced that luxury, who may have heard from far off family members once every ten years or through the annual Christmas letters/cards if they were lucky.

Not everyone gets into social media, and sometimes I think they’re missing out. My husband is one of those, but then again, I must say that he’s quite happy for me to report items I’ve seen on Facebook or news from family members.

 

I’m guessing his receptiveness satisfies yet another one of my inherent traits as a journalist.  We love to tell the story and to tell it first.

Lots of things to think about in regard to the possibilities and potential of our social media addictions.  And, I probably don’t have room nor time to explore them all this morning because I must remain disciplined to a strict deadline in getting my Lovestead news out through social media.

Helen and Cherry and a few others will be sitting there around 8 a.m., with coffee or tea, waiting for their morning “slight detour” fix, and if the blog is not up by 8:01, someone will be sending me a message asking if everything is okay out there.

I’m sure THEY are not addicted!

Happy Monday! And, it still is happy here cuz still no snow.  That is a good thing!

Seated: Nephew Scott with sister Laurie and brother Jim.

Standing: Dad Harold, Mother Virginia in front of brother Mike, sister-in-law Joyce, Marianne, sister Barbara in front of hubby Bill, Aunt Lena Mae in front of brother Kevin and Uncle Frenchy.