Skip to main content

Seven Days

 



I found myself face to face with an old friend last week, digitally speaking. 



Threw Mike’s Eyez is a local blog written by Woodbine resident Mike Hartley. I discovered it back in the day when HoCoBlogs had an aggregator page and one could browse through what was currently available in the local blogosphere.  I’ve pointed you in his direction several times before, most recently, in 2019:

I was inspired by this from Threw Mike’s Eyez blog:

*My goal for tomorrow is to fill a trashcan of old junk and get rid of it. Well, I do have a lot more goals than that, but that might be the hardest.*

A quick glance at Hartley’s LinkedIn page reveals a lifetime in the newspaper industry, including some treasured years working for Patuxent Publishing  in that building I love to write about. I also learned that he’s been writing his blog since 2014. 

That’s persistence.

It looks like he strives to write every day. Sounds familiar, huh?

Hartley brings his skills as a professional photographer to his blogging endeavors. He knows how to get just the right shot and just where to place it within his narrative posts. Like the yeast that leavens the bread, his photographs bring everything together and make it better, somehow. He has a light touch.

I love his thoughtfulness, his self-deprecating humor. I don’t think you can come away from his posts without thinking a little bit about life and how you want to spend it. And there’s definitely an undercurrent of gratitude in there as well.

Often his posts end with a collection of Random Thoughts of the Day. Those alone are often “worth the price of admission” as folks used to say. Here’s an example from 1/24/22.

Random Thoughts of the Day

  • Learning is fun. Wish I learned that lesson earlier on in life.
  • I feel a sense of urgency all the time now.
  • Sometimes there are treasures in old cardboard boxes.
  • I’m trying to will myself to feel better with mixed success.

I get the feeling that Hartley’s blog is a discipline, a practice of sorts. He’s on a journey and he’s deeply aware that he’s on a journey and he’s offering a neighborly invitation for you to be a welcome observer.

Every single day.



EMILY: "Does anyone ever realize life while they live it...every, every minute?"

STAGE MANAGER: "No. Saints and poets maybe...they do some.” 

― Thornton Wilder, Our Town

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

F ³: Who Belongs at the Library?

  One of these things is not like the others One of these things doesn't belong Can you tell which thing is not like the other By the time we finish our song?* Did you guess which thing is not like the others? Did you guess which thing doesn't belong? If you guessed this thing is not like the others Then you're absolutely right.  Our library promotes equity. Our library promotes literacy for adults who have come here from many places. Our library promotes accessibility to materials and opportunities. Our library is hosting multiple Harry Potter themed events?  Tell me this isn’t so. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, has and continues to use the profits from those books to advocate for laws that diminish the rights of trans people. She has and continues to use her fame to influence public opinion to view and treat trans people negatively. In short, Ms. Rowling is using the Harry Potter book series to make transgender people around the world less safe....
1 comment
Read more