Going Inkless

I encountered a toad the other day as I was preparing a garden bed for planting.  He nearly went unnoticed, being the same size and colour as a clump of the soil I was working.  But he hopped, and dirt doesn't do that. A toad is a very ordinary thing to find outdoors in spring time, but I reflected that I haven't seen many of them lately.  When I was young, there wasn't a day in the green or brown seasons when I didn't see a toad, a turtle, a crayfish, or some similar small creature up close and personal.  In recent years, these encounters have been less frequent, mostly just during camping trips.  Rarely, there will be some accidental visitor to "human" space.  A few years ago, during a torrential rainstorm, a toad had hopped into the library with the morning deliveries and had to be redirected.  Around ten years past, I rescued a crayfish from a hotel pool.  Still, the daily contact has been missing. Maybe part of my critter filled childh...

     At a certain point early on, a child begins to understand that things happen for reasons.  Before that point, the whole world is magical.  Things just work.  The example I was given of this stage of perception was that young child opening the cabinet each morning and the cereal is just there.  No concept of where it had come from, the store or the farm.  No concept that it might not be there one day.  It just is.      Gradually, understanding comes.  We begin to see the paths that lead to the ends.  As we grow, knowledge of consequences enables us to solve problems or reach our goals.  Still, there is some blindness in each of us.      As adults, we know the fact that everything has an origin.  Whether that was a natural process or human intervention, what is  exists because of what was .   Awareness  of the fact usually requires concious thought that we don't often en...

The view this morning was sharp and bright where you could see it.  This is usually the case on the coldest of mornings.  I had meant to capture the winter majesty from an attic window but caught a different kind of winter majesty instead.  Today started out at 16 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit.  (That's -26.6 C if you're reading this from outside the USA)  Most of the world in my immediate vicinity was holed up in their houses, taking an extra long weekend. Monday's forecast was all that people were talking about this weekend.  With wind chill predicted to be 50 degrees below zero (-45.5 C) there were dire warnings of the impending danger and sage advice for coping.  Children and pets should be kept indoors at all costs.  Don't travel unless you have to, and don't even think about doing so without food and water and extra blankets in the car.  Keep your ears, nose, and fingers covered; frostbite only takes minutes to set in.  Sun...

     Vacation, a time of rest- meaning a time to do the rest  of the things you never get around to in a normal work week.  A certain amount of the vacation I'm allotted must be used before the end of the year, or it melts away.  Since I'm often busy with the next big project, anticipating a meeting, or adapting to changes, the scheduling of those days gets pushed toward the end of the year when the pressure is on to use it or lose it.  Generally, my first significant vacation of the year ends up being in late August.  It works out because that's generally when there's more going on in my personal life that I'd like the time to enjoy- the GenCon gaming convention, our ( my husband and I ) wedding anniversary, my husband's family reunion (followed in September by my family's annual camping trip.)  I started a week off on Wednesday, spending the day on the deck in the sun, but not as you may think.  Vacation, as I've said, is usually a tim...

     You may not know this, but a library workroom can get a little noisy sometimes.  With meeting room noise leaking in through the walls and the friendly chatter of employees, it can get difficult to concentrate.  Since much of my job requires focus, attention to details, and clear thought, I've developed strategies to deal with the occasional hubub.  Counting in another language can help me keep from being derailed by random numbers in nearby conversations, provided the language is different from those likely to crop up in the area.  Systematic double-checks and lists can help to make sure nothing gets missed.  Music is a great tool in that effort, too.  When things are getting hectic and the noise level is rising, I can find an oasis in my headphones.  I still have to keep one ear partially free in order to catch a ringing phone or answer questions for coworkers, but a little music can effectively cancel most of the distractions and ...

     "Don't forget to sleep," I tell him as I'm going out the door to work.  At 8 am, he's been home less than an hour after an hour long commute, and he's still working.  There are schedules to arrange and payroll to approve, email and phone calls to answer and figurative fires to put out.  Remembering to sleep is a real concern.      During the holiday buying season, his company is at its busiest, and the shipping operation he manages at two warehouses is the focal point of that activity.  There are hordes of temporary workers to train and to inspire to care about a job that demands attention to details and a quick pace.  There are daily struggles with equipment and technology, delivery schedules and personalities under pressure.  The business goes around the clock this time of year.  Managers and supervisors have divided up the shifts so there's always someone in each warehouse to guide the workflow and respond to the...

     Day to day, I watch the tides of interlibrary loan.  Books and media of all sorts move in and out of my department.  Other libraries' items flow in for our patrons, and our items flow out for others.  The variety is amazing.  Just this past week, we have received or sent items on a wide range of topics, including art, history, religion, science, economics, and psychology.  Materials in multiple languages have crossed my desk - English, Spanish, Polish, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, French, and Gujarati.  In addition to the novels, movies, music and children's books of all flavors, we have facilitated access to books on subjects as diverse as woodworking, philosophy, teaching methods, and real estate.  Practical matters like nutrition, car repair and sewing were represented as were academic studies like chemistry and medicine.  Our patrons are interested in everything from computer programming to learning Korean to politics and world...

In the midst of a funding crisis in our library system, a local newspaper was doing a story, and our director was contacted (among others) to provide a few anecdotes about things we’ ve done for our patrons. Although he was late in opening the last minute e-mail request and missed the deadline, he asked me to think about the assignment anyway. Library funding is a hot topic right now, and he wanted to be prepared if we are asked for such information again. I’m not entirely comfortable with his request. While I do my best for all our patrons and often go beyond our normal routine to help them get what they need, I don’t think what I do makes a good story. Often, though it may mean very much to the patron, what I dig up for them is of little interest to the world at large. On top of that, it’s all part of my job. To brag would be unsuitable and inappropriate. When I go out of my way for a patron, it’s not really special because librar...