Day 244

Years ago when I lived in Colorado, I spent a lot of time hiking through the mountain passes between Aspen and Crested Butte. I remember that when we were headed uphill, the pack on my back seemed very heavy and all I thought about was putting one foot in front of the other. When we eventually arrived at the top of the pass, it all seemed worthwhile. You could see for miles and the trek back down the other side was exhilarating because you weren't fighting gravity anymore. Life these days seems a lot like those long uphill climbs. I'm still putting one foot in front of the other, but I can't see the summit at all. I'm beginning to wonder if there even is a summit.

Today's uphill climb consisted mostly of paying bills and trying to get an assortment of problems resolved over the phone. National Geographic called me in between my own calls with a detailed set of instructions for tomorrow's interviews. This call wasn't a problem at all. I was actually glad to hear from them. If all my clients were this detailed and exact about what they wanted from me, my life would be a whole lot easier. Most people don't give me any instructions at all. A lot of them don't even know what they want. I need to do something first to give them a target to criticize. Then I do everything all over again to arrive at a finished product. I shouldn't really complain about this awkward process though. If people were better at visualizing solutions, they wouldn't need me in the first place.

I need to come up with some better commands for the dogs. When I was out in the back yard with them after lunch, I realized that I was saying "No Bark" to Dot to get her to quit barking at the neighbor dog. At the same time, I was also saying "No Bark" to Dash to get him to quit eating tree bark that had fallen on the ground. No wonder the dogs don't listen to me. They are probably totally confused.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day