Story #1. Pup and I hike the trails on a snowy morning. It’s quiet and snowing lightly. We walk towards one of our favourite viewpoints, surrounded by the overcast grey morning air. But just like that, early morning sun pokes through the clouds, flooding and transforming the valley. Snowflakes sparkle as they dance their way to the ground. It’s mesmerizing.
Before I write anything else, I promised an update on the email I sent to the company that decided to make Remembrance Day a one-day sale kind of day. They replied, and they did it in a thoughtful way. It was not meant as dismissive of the somber occasion, but they understood why it came across in that way. They’ll do better from here on. So, hats off, because you know, the response came in less than three hours. Hope in humanity was revived for a bit.
Just in time for the next nosedive.
Every now and then, I attempt to clean out my inbox. It’s a never-ending task, as many (most?) of us know. A whack-a-mole with sales pitches from companies you didn’t know existed but somehow you are on their distribution list.
In my case, due to the writing activities, I am on various press release lists. Few are worth taking seriously, given that it’s not just information they are sending out but a call to action for people like me to interview PR representatives from various businesses that have solved some of humanity’s biggest problems to date. Or so they think. Come to think of it, it’d be fun to create a compilation of the wackiest product adverts (okay, press releases) sent my way.
But I digress.
How lucky are we?
It rained overnight. The slightly open bedroom window allows for just enough sound volume to not unsettle the dog. The sounds of rain make for extra coziness in that early morning darkness when the covers feel softest and warm enough to make you already long for next night’s sleep.
We wake up with darkness still clinging, and that’s just right for a cup of coffee and reading. The pup settles on her blanket on the couch for a belly-up snooze. Her soft breathing reminds me of the boys being little and abandoning themselves to deep peaceful sleeps, knowing they are safe and loved.
It’s been precisely 18 days since I announced on social media (Instagram and indirectly, Facebook, as I haven’t been posting there in a long time) that I will be taking a break. A month, to be precise, with the intention of weighing in the pros and cons as I went through this digital absenteeism.
Do I mean real seals? Well, yes. That’s the image that comes to mind when I see increasingly more posts on social media where instead of comments, it’s the same word or expression repeated at nauseam by users. ‘Comment WHATEVER and I’ll send you a link’ it’s how it’s done. Not a secret link either but something you can otherwise find by yourself on their website with minimal effort. If you want to. Instead, digital promises that marketing wizards have designed to spread like wildfire. Old tricks, new ways to deliver it.
Two days ago, I took a photo of the Red Bridge, a beloved historic landmark in Kamloops. It was just another walk along the river with our dog. However, I then deleted the photo because I thought it was a bit too … ordinary. The light was nothing spectacular yet, as the sun was not quite setting, and the orange glow was still to come. Plus, I have so many beautiful shots of it, I thought…
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