It’s the little things in life - August 25 2023

I think I said this title phrase no less that five times today.

My day started off swell. I rose easily with enough time to wake up and get going before I started into work.

When I walked to the car, I waved at Cookies Cat and then I saw this rock shaped heart at my feet.

I see these from time to time. Often all in a row. I saw several from my trip to the Oregon Coast.

I smiled knowing it would be a good day. As my first day back at work from my Seattle Trip, that felt like a very good sign.

I started my day with a lot of office work. In a way it was relaxing and a calm to ease back into the gatekeeper energy. It takes a minute to catch up on current events after being gone for a week at a dynamic job like this.

Then one of our crew called out. So I stepped up and took on the overtime to close out the day. It was a twelve hour shift. Honestly, better than the fourteen hour shift I did last month for the same reason. I like what I do and I don’t mind the compensation for time when I can do it.

By the time I went out to the booth, the difference between the two shifts was gone and it was like stepping into the closing shift.

As I walked into my kiosk, I saw this bright but very still butterfly. My crewmate said they were hit by a car. I felt so sad. Yet I was also in awe of being able to stare at them.

In their suffering there was joy. Morbid, maybe. But there is beauty in the transformation between this world and the next.

That was a theme throughout the entire day and still weave through my thoughts as I recall this in the evening.

During my break I watched these forestry guys knock over this tree. It was a beautiful tree, and yet I knew that there was purpose in their method.

It took them a while to knock her down. Even after the chainsaw cut through the wedges in the bark, the backhoe had a hard time getting it to turn over.

Several hammers and not so gentle shoves later, it finally buckled and fell nearly onto of another tree. Though thankfully far away from people, buildings, and cars. I could tell these guys were good at their jobs.

I met one of them later, a fine lumberman about my age who did indeed have a very good knowledge of cutting down timber.

While I was snowed in at Hodgdon Meadows, he was out sawyering trees cut across the road because he was bored. It also happened to help an entire community unbury from fallen trees from storms blocking their path to gas and groceries.

From here the day was boring, but enjoyable. Sometimes boring is exactly what the soul needs. I interacted with all kinds of people from all over the place. Today some of the highlights were Singapore, South Korea, Italy, and one very savvy gal from France.

My favorite interaction today goes to this family who came in handing me a parks pass, as many do. My script says to this, “May I peek at your ID, please.”

The lady driving said, “sure, but the card is hers,” pointing to the back seat to a gal in a booster seat looking to be about four years old. She proudly waved and I waved back with a smile. Looking down at the pass closer, I noticed a first name written in the bold lines of a child’s handwriting.

I smile and say, “I’m so glad you are here today, miss, and brought your whole family!” We celebrated. The driver shared that the parks pass had been a gift to the child so she could bring her family to the parks. I melted.

I had never seen that before. Children 15 and under get in for free, there is no need for them to have a pass. However, the fourth grader program does the same thing by giving the child the pass to let their family into the parks to experience it all together. That is the power of the parks, it is a beautiful atmosphere to slow down and bond over the little moments.

The work day was done, another one in the books. I am only thankful that I have a job that I don’t mind working the extra hour and a half. I have boundaries around it, but there are times when it is nothing worth minding. That is the give and take of this job.

And we do get paid in sunsets. I got to see the moon rise, the sun set, and the moon glow through the silhouette of a tree between leaving the gate, stopping by the store, and getting home.

I ate a small dinner, played a game, played with the cat, and now I’m writing. It’s way later than it needs to be to get up and open in the morning, but I’ve learned that if I let it out then it doesn’t get bottled up. Otherwise I lay in bed at night unable to fall asleep because my mind is racing through multiple iterations of ideas in my head. By writing them out I create and manifest growth and understanding.

Adventures, ideas, and creativity are how I manage the everyday world of undulations between chaos and monotony.

The everyday does not feel very exciting or important, however, it is the exact opposite. It is because of what we do in the normal everyday that allows us to have the strength and knowledge to do what when have to when the time comes.

When we nurture ourselves and fulfill our needs, we are able to give our of our overflow and not from our rations. That is how I choose to live, in abundance and love. Finding joy in the little things.