Word! Your Focus for 2023 - in one Word
By Tom Peterson
I hit 183 pounds this winter, and I thought a fight with my stomach might help me out.
Well, kinda. But I’m still 183 pounds. Oh, and 5’5. I lost a few inches over the years.
It got me thinking. Not about the extra weight, but why?
I came up with this, Move.
It’s my one-word anthem for the year - move.
You know. I like to move it, move it. Can you see lemurs dancing?
Anyways, the thought prompted this question of the week as we are six days into the new year.
What is your focus for 2023? In one word.
I hit the streets to find out. And did I get some answers? Word, girl. damn!
I started at Thompson Track on a grey 30-degree morning, Jan. 3. I found only two intrepid bipeds taking the circuitous route.
Dick Rife, 89, The Dalles
“I turn 90 next month,” he said with a walking stick in his hand. “Existing is my word. When you get old you have to stay active both physically and mentally. I read a lot and belong to several organizations. I belong to the Kiwanis. I helped with the Red Kettle collection with the Salvation Army this year.”
Dick said he helped collect money while dressed as Santa and ringing a bell.
An interesting note here. Dick said they compete against The Dalles Lions Club in collecting donations. And it did not turn out how he had hoped, he said smiling.
The Dalles Lions Club pulled off a squeaker of a win in the Red Kettle Campaign; This year, the groups raised $,5,970.
Lions Club: $2,989; Kiwanis: $2,981.
Oh, that’s a stinger. Just $8 difference.
“Had I known it was going to be so close I would have chipped in the extra $9,” Dick said.
Not far behind Dick, was his better half.
Elaine Rife, 85, The Dalles
Elaine pushed her answer to two words. Ok, we’ll bite.
“Stay healthy,” she said. “I want to be able to do my normal things and enjoy a normal day.”
So, what is a normal day?
“I enjoy cards. I don’t enjoy chores, but I have to do them.”
“I enjoy playing cards with people. I play Pinocle and Bridge. The Bridge Club is at St. Peter’s and the Pinocle is at the Episcopal church.
“Being Sociable keeps you motivated,” she said. “Yeah, I’m younger than Dick. I’m only 85.”
Between Thompson Track and the Hospital, I spied a man with a fresh smile exiting Columbia View Dental.
Peder Gunderson, 59, Grass Valley
He came up with a zinger - six syllables, no less.
“Profitability,” he said. “I don’t want to go backward financially. I am a farmer in Grass Valley. Cattle and wheat prices are not bad, but that’s probably because everything else is up too.”Gunderson and I chatted about diesel and fertilizer costs, noting the markets for them were brutal this summer prior to harvest, which, of course, cuts into profitability.
He said he intended to purchase his fuel ahead of time to beat the market. Gunderson is not only a seller of commodities, but he is also learning to be an astute buyer.
While we’re watching the numbers, here’s a good computation. 2023-2022 = 1 Hey, we all earned a year! You gotta enjoy the little wins.
As I left Peder and the parking lot, I spied a cigarette in a hand hanging out a car door window that was parked.
I approached the man doing my best to communicate my question. But his voice was very groggy. He did not want to be identified. So we chatted and he told me he was awaiting radiation treatment for his throat cancer. He had 8 days left of treatments.
He may not have said it, but the concern was palpable in the conversation. He said it was his second round of cancer, having fought prostate cancer earlier.
While he did not give me a word. I will give him one. Hope.
Farther down 19th Street, I could see a gentleman wearing a heavy coat with blue scrubs visible below his collar.
He was Sean. No more, no less. And he had no resolution.
“I never make them. I forget about them anyways,” he said.
Do you work in the medical field?
“Yeah.”
Is that purposeful?
“Yeah it really is,” he said.
A day later, Jan. 4, I continued my hunt for words.
At about 9 a.m. I ran into a guy entering the gas station at Third and Lincoln streets in The Dalles.
Jack Devlaeminck, 29, The Dalles
“I’m going to continue to work and stay close to my family,” Jack said. “I focus on family, and what’s more important than that?”
A day later, Jan. 5, I ran into Miguel - he did not give me his last name, but he worked for Orchard View Farms. He is a mechanic, heavy equipment operator and general fix-it guy for the company. He was pumping diesel at an immensely slow speed.
He said the handle was not working and asked me if I knew how to fix it.
I didn’t.
Soon, another guy showed up.
Miguel and Drew Bonneman, 26, The Dalles.
Drew works at the 76 Station and pointed to a sign on the pump.
It read: if the pump is slow, shut off the handle for 20 seconds and restart.
Man, it's like a freakin’ computer. Who knew?
Oh, I thought, remembering how few people read signs including myself.
Miguel and I counted to 20 out loud together. Good times in TD.
And as fuel began flowing, Drew told me his word.
“Travel,” he said. “I want to go to another country somewhere. I want to find new housing too. It all sounds far-fetched, but staging is the whole process. You have to plan.”
Then, he said.
“I’m going to the Dominican Republic in two weeks. My mom - Katherine - lives there.”
Side note: It’s currently 87 degrees in the Dominican Republic as I write this.
Drew, could you stage me in?
A bit west on Sixth Street on Jan. 6, I hit the paint store for one more gallon.
$67.
Ouch.
Even though paint manufacturing in Texas is back to scale after a freeze that burst pipes and shut down plants in the winter of 2021, prices are still thick as latex.
Gunderson, you were right. I should have bought when the market was low - probably in 2019.
I found a bearded and bespectacled gentleman happy to help me out behind the counter.
Stephen Greene, 24, Goldendale
His word?
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“Optimism,” he said. “I want to be staying positive about what’s going on in the world. Everybody is coming back from the pandemic and it is looking up, especially businesswise. I work with a lot of contractors and all sounds pretty good out there.”
P.S. We have a great column on resolutions on Saturday, Jan. 7 on our home page. Check it out.
