Refocus

I spent yesterday watching, and participating in, a public auction sale of many items from my great-aunt's estate. The weather was crisp and clear, the sun even peeked out from behind the clouds occasionally. A virtual army of helpers began at 7AM to get the remaining items out onto trailers to allow potential bidders the opportunity to examine the items prior to the start of the event at 10AM. There were many unique items, but a lot of just "stuff" that we all seem to accumulate.

These auctions are typically community events, with some coming from far and many from near. Oddly enough, some small, very unique and old items never made it into the auctioneer's hands - having been taken by someone who took advantage of the trusting nature of the event. Knowing that I may have been standing close to someone who would do this troubles me.

The bidding began with a trailer full of tools and other miscellaneous garage items. Short work was made of that trailer and we moved on to the many household items which were to be sold. I purchased a few special things, but the budget did not allow for several things that went far too high. A very unique item sold was a baseball autographed by Satchel Paige. My great uncle and his brother belonged to a community baseball league and saw Satchel Paige play in a nearby town. While at the game, they each had a baseball autographed by Paige. It was fun to see someone take away that piece of history. I did purchase a few boxes of books, some from the late 1800's. I would enjoy keeping a few, but would consider selling some. I'm not quite sure how to go about that appropriately. Research project for another day.

I'm processing what could be considered the indignity of seeing someone's goods spread out for strangers to paw through OR I could examine this as a chance to share with others some of the wonderful things my family members had accumulated over their lifetime(s). Is this a glass half-empty or half-full question?

A related, but different subject....

I have been doing a lot of reading about preserving family histories. My father's family information is held by one of my uncles. My mom's family information is dispersed throughout many family members in the generation prior to mine. I'm not sure at what point my generation will be entrusted with photos (or copies thereof) and their accompanying stories or the family heirlooms that may not be valued monetarily, but rather in the memories that accompany them. Maybe when I turn 50?! I just hope that someday there isn't a box of old, old black and white photographs being auctioned for $5 to a complete stranger (as I saw yesterday) who only values them for the uniqueness of the pictures, not for the stories and memories that could, or should, accompany each of them.

One more....

Standing in line at Target last Sunday, I observed an elderly lady struggling to use her debit card for payment. I admired the patience of the young clerk who was very kind and assisted this woman with using a previously unused card. I also was overwhelmed by the courage shown by the elderly woman who had grown up probably purchasing items for mere pennies with the actual coin clutched in her childish hand to learning something completely new like using a debit card. It doesn't sound difficult to most of us, but she is someone, a stranger, I really admired.

Here we are again

-The sheep and calves have left for their winter homes. The lack of rain this summer has left our pasture with less grass than previous years. We had hoped to allow a period of recovery for the grass during warmer weather, but snow/rain is predicted for Wednesday so the recovery will be a sum total of two days.

-The three kids enjoyed a great weekend with my aunt and uncle as tour guides in and around Bismarck. My parents also experienced two nights with three kids in their hotel room (all were in Bismarck for an event). Sights seen by the children included a personal tour of the capitol, the state historical museum, time at the Lewis and Clark interpretive center and much more. The kindness shown continues to be greatly appreciated.

-We mourn, with friends, the loss of a lovely 18 year old. While we did not know the young lady, we feel the anguish and deep grief of several of her family members.

-Enjoyed a brief visit from my favorite husband's brother and wife. We spent a delightful evening out to dinner in Fargo, celebrating the brother's 50th birthday. Our entire family was then honored to have them spend the night at our house.

-Speaking of students-School is going well. We have begun cat dissection in anatomy and physiology. Prior to calling the ASPCA, let me assure you that I did not supply the model; I am not at all comfortable with this event, but am pressing forward as this is a required part of my education - despite the smell of the preservative making me physically ill last week (note to self: eat lunch prior to lab today).

-SNOW, that 4-letter word, looms in the forecast for tomorrow. It was 80 degrees on Saturday.

-Spending time with friends in person or via e-mail continues to be a highlight of our week/day. Keep those cards, letters, e-mails, instant messages, etc. coming. This year we PLAN to send out Christmas/Holiday/End of December cards to you all (unless we have no idea where you live or have lost your address in the paper abyss or if we have been cut from your list because we have not sent such a greeting in x-can't recall-x number of years) in which we plan to include a...drumroll please....a family photo. The reason for the great excitement? In the last formal portrait of our family we had two children-the eldest was 4 and the youngest was still in diapers. Things have changed considerably since that time - gray hair, another child (not necessarily related), let's just say that time has marched on.

-Quilting. I just found a lady in church who excels in this art. Our #1 daughter hopes to pursue a 4H quilting project and I hope to tap this woman's expertise.

-Outsourcing is a hot topic in our house. We purchased a computer system from DELL, along with several YEARS of support. The printer has started to do some bizarre things - like splitting lines of text, skipping lines of text - basically making printing illegible. I telephoned DELL - and, of course, found myself talking to someone in INDIA who gave me his American name as "Sam." Sam spent an hour on the telephone with me, assuring himself that I was, indeed, presenting the problem accurately and had not reset any settings within a variety of programs which would somehow cause printing to suddenly go crazy. Sam then told me that he would consult with his supervisor and then call me back with the solution. We reviewed my time zone - CENTRAL - 7PM. Sam was advised that he could call up until 10:30PM. I made a point of staying off of our archaic dial-up connection wishing to have this resolved ASAP. No call. Off to bed. AT ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING (OK, it was 12:58AM) the telephone rang. "Hello Mrs. XX, this is Sam from Dell, prepared to walk you through the solution to your printer issue." "WHAT?" "DO YOU REALIZE IT IS ONE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING?" "I am so sorry Mrs. XX. Enjoy your rest and I will call you this evening." Keep in mind that this is not verbatim as I had been SLEEPING prior to hearing from SAM. Also note that this evening it will be one week since I heard from Sam-and the printer saga continues. There won't be a Christmas letter unless we can get it out of our computer. Ahh, outsourcing at its finest.

-Reading about McDonaldization. Interesting.