I work at a gallery. Downtown, part-time. I manage the company-wide blog, answer random questions about grammar, dole out directions to places I have never been, and sell artsy things. If you lack the ability to visualize how artwork should be framed, I will come to the rescue with the perfect design. My eye is better than yours, anyway.
The postal worker assigned to our route is fantastically nice and funny. He slathers it on a bit thick at times, but is unfailingly amusing. He also has the solid recommendation of being a playwright.
We did not have any incoming mail today. This was the only delivery.
The pink really popped in the bright light of the gallery.
Every day, the mailman gives one customer a rose. After 9 months, it was my turn. I brought it home and, after a fruitless search for a suitable vase, popped it in my favourite wine bottle. The few flowers that find their way into my flat inevitably end up in a wine bottle, yet I ritualistically go through the motions of looking for a vase. It’s a formality that I cannot explain.
The rose is at home on a crowded shelf above my desk.
The lighting in my studio is really off tonight. I was also too lazy to fetch my Nikon. I settled for the camera on my dying Blackberry. The results were less than stunning so I decided to cheat with Photo Editor. I love the old newspaper effect. Imagine that.
This old photograph effect is eerie. It’s completely to my liking.
Bonus points to anyone with an eye sharp enough to recognize the people or objects on the bulletin board.
Virginia is eying my rose.
What looks like a manifesting orb in the upper right corner is really my shadow as transformed through Photo Editor.
I don’t love flowers, roses are just okay. I’ve nothing complicated or poetic to say in this post, other than: sometimes, people are nice. A small gesture can have a large impact. Although the degradation of the human spirit seems so commonplace, not every human experience is negative.
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 
The Chef here…
That bottle was from an exceptional creation from Chris Ringland, a wine-making Rock Star. His Southern Belle Shiraz was a delight. Imagine a Big, Huge, Inky, Jammy wine that he allowed to rest in bourbon barrels. The wine took on flavours and personality from the barrel, while its 17.6% abv was high enough to keep the wine from gaining alcohol from the barrel. One of my favourite wines of the last few years. A winner, but all of Chris’s wines are pretty awesome.
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Everything The Chef says is true. All of Chris Ringland’s wines are wonderful, down to the smallest details such as the first-rate artwork on the labels. We’ve never regretted purchasing a bottle.
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“Sometimes people are nice” is actually a lot to say given that most people never acknowledge that basic fact. I’m so glad someone was randomly nice to you.
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I know. We spend so much time focusing on the negative that I wanted to acknowledge this just plain nice gesture.
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What a sweet mailman!
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I know! The rose is so beautiful, and I am not a flower person by any stretch of the imagination. We are leaving for the Niagara Falls area tomorrow. I know that when we return late Sunday evening, the petals will have shed all over my desk. Sad.
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Definitely…that mailman’s a sweetheart. It only takes a moment to do something nice to somebody but it’s something the recipient remembers forever.
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Exactly. It was a small gesture but one with a lasting impact.
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Hey Maedez,
I do appreciate your comments and “likes”. Funnily enough, I do read your blog, yet haven’t ever hit the like button. Simply because I do like them, and it seems a bit redundant. LOL Yet, often I speak/write about validation and communication- yet surrendered neither to you. So, like a giant hug from a vibrant older Aunt, here is an all encompassing, and somewhat overpowering ‘LIKE’, which is good for all time. As for your day, well, with your Artists eye, you already see the world in a way that most of us only looked at, but failed to see. Smiles, Kevin and Kathy
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Thanks for the kind words! I really appreciate them. I enjoy your blog and the way you see the world from a unique vantage point. It is always illuminating.
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