Monday, September 12, 2011

On Hobbies

I was in the grocery store (Weis, for you locals) tonight and was witness to an artist at work. Deb was her name and my, can she pack a grocery bag. Like all good artists she was very deliberate and focused as she worked, getting all the details JUST SO. She had short term goals and long term goals. Looking down the conveyor belt, murmuring to herself ("apple cider, mmmm... parmesan... mmm...squash...") and only then would she take on the next item and put it in it's proper place. It's proper place would be one of several categories that spanned in a crescent around her own rotund self. Sometimes it took many seconds of hard discernment but eventually the item would find its rightful place. And then, like a true artist, she would turn from this detail back to the big picture and determine her next step ("cream, mmmm...eggs....peaches...OK, right, toothpaste"), reaching for the item that made the most sense given the overall scheme.
Had I had children with me I may have been distracted and frustrated and therefore missed this opportunity to admire her diligence in this labor of love but thankfully I was in no rush to get home to aforesaid children and so used the opportunity watch a genius at work...albeit with some amazement that Deb is able to make a living off of this particular art form.
All of this to say that Deb and her grocerybag art and me and my life are rather similar. I am in no rush with this blog...Love Life is a hobby, just one item in a much bigger picture - the actual Loves' lives. It's something that takes some creativity and energy to keep up and therefore ebbs and flows along with my life. I sincerely apologize to those waiting in my line if it moves at a slower pace then is comfortable (Deb did not apologize for her own style but I think that we must diverge paths on this point, sorry Deb - every analogy fails at some point). I would prefer to be steady and reliable (Stay Calm and Blog On) but alas, I do not think it is to be. My long term goals often push the blog to the back of the line and it just doesn't make it in the bag very quickly. But it's been 4.5 years or so of fits and spurts and we keep putt putting along so I think we're here to stay. Sometimes more and sometimes less but Deb and I aren't going anywhere. And we thank those who encourage us to keep up the project, we love to hear that people want us to speed up because that means that they appreciate the final product. Sadly, we don't often have the energy to do all that we'd like to do and that is why neither Deb or I will ever take this project to the next level. It's a hobby. Oh wait, there goes that failed analogy again. Poor Deb...are there amateur grocerybag artists? Because I don't think that deadlines are really our thing...

9 comments:

  1. Love it, and we feel the same way, presently. Fits and spurts win the race, right? Glad you are still there though! - Karen :)

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  2. Uncle James and Aunt NatalieSeptember 12, 2011 at 9:41 PM

    YES YES YES!!!! We are back! While your usual time slot of 8:00am will remain- the setting will be moved to 8:00am sitting (not in Hostetler's class) but I will be sitting in front of my computer at work surveying the current, but always varying, state of the used textbook market. We miss and love you all.

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  3. Deb has achieved the pinnacle of my three-year-old ambitions - the bagger at the Kroger my mom went to was an inspiration. Everything bagged (in paper) neat and square, dry goods in one bag, freezer goods in another, bread never squished on the bottom... I have to say, though, the hands-down best bagging artist I have ever encountered was a manager at a Meijer outside of Lansing. My plastic grocery bags were stackable models of square efficiency when he was through with them. Awe-inspiring.

    Love to read when you have time to write, but I fully understand - yea, though I have the chance to bag my own groceries every time I go to Kroger now, the thing of beauty that was the object of my three-year-old ambitions is not generally my focus. The actual almost-three-year-old in my basket tends to be much more important!

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  4. Alexis, I love your blog and am glad whenever you write. Also, I am so glad you were able to appreciate the true talent of Deb.

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  5. Don't give up your day job but BLOG GIRL BLOG!!!

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  6. Yay for blog post!!! Though you have much more weighty things to accomplish (children to raise, educate, feed, and etc) you are such a great writer- it's nice to see that side of you!

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  7. Keep blogging, Alexis, all of them will end up being your book of life. You have such a gift for writing;what you say and how you say it brings life to those of us who read it.

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  8. I also appreciate a good bagging artist...but I think that's because I'm a tad OCD. Oh well, I guess I missed my true calling. Glad to have you back, spurting and fitting away.

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