Snowy Owl in the Maine Woods41.25” x 29.5”, Watercolor, Gouache, Matt Medium, Embroidery on Rives BFK Paper
Costco Co-Founder Jim Sinegal
Jim Sinegal, who co-founded Costco
Sinegal, born in 1936, started at the bottom, beginning as a bagger at a grocery store in San Diego, California. Over the years, he found he loved the retail industry and made his way around it, ending up in 1983 as Costco's president and CEO. Sinegal always had a broad vision and his ideas and innovations created the first big box "warehouse club", selling a large variety of products including clothing, eye glasses, tires, food, electronics, pharmaceuticals, etc. His approach was hands-on, and he made it his business to visit every Costco store across the country in order to stay in touch, ensure good quality control and worker satisfaction. You can kind of tell when people are happy in their jobs and I get that vibe there--when workers feel they are treated respectfully by their employers. Quoting Sinegal from a Wall Street Journal article, "You can't say people are our most important product then treat them like shit...If you don't mean it, it is reflected very quickly. The same thing is true about the quality of the product you are selling. Your customers and your suppliers are going to see you don't really mean it..
For all the reasons above, he is a target for our current president...All the more reason to frequent and support Costco over other big box stores...I hope like me you are trying to avoid Target, Home Depot and Amazon as much as possible.
Snowy Night by Mary Oliver
Diana Arcadipone, mixed media on paper
Photo courtesy Peter Ralson, A Warm and Cozy Winter Break, available on his website www.peterralston.com
by Mary Oliver
Last night, an owl
in the blue dark
tossed an indeterminate number
of carefully shaped sounds into
the world, in which,
a quarter of a mile away, I happened
to be standing.
I couldn’t tell
which one it was –
the barred or the great-horned
ship of the air –
it was that distant. But, anyway,
aren’t there moments
that are better than knowing something,
and sweeter? Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness. I suppose
if this were someone else’s story
they would have insisted on knowing
whatever is knowable – would have hurried
over the fields
to name it – the owl, I mean.
But it’s mine, this poem of the night,
and I just stood there, listening and holding out
my hands to the soft glitter
falling through the air. I love this world,
but not for its answers.
And I wish good luck to the owl,
whatever its name –
and I wish great welcome to the snow,
whatever its severe and comfortless
and beautiful meaning.
Courtesy Peter Ralston, Going By, available on his website at PeterRalston.com
Winter Songs
Playlist
Photo courtesy Billy Heyman to accompany the song River written by Joni Mitchell
Here goes:
The River Joni Mitchell
Valley Winter Song Fountains of Wayne
Reindeer King Tori Amos
Quiet, The Winter Harbor Mazzy Star
Song for a Winter's Night Gordon Lightfoot
Winter Lady Leonard Cohen
Snowstorm Galaxie 500
Hazy Shade of Winter cover The Bangles
The River (again--I love this version!) cover Robert Downey Jr.
Painting of the Week
House im Snow, mixed media on canvas, 54” x 80” $8500
Charity of the Week:
ACLU
Book of the Week
About The Author
New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.