I happened to read an article some time ago about how the British seem to be obsessed with weather. Perhaps some think me similar in my speaking often about it, but in fact not. I speak of it in the spirit of paying more attention to the great outdoors rather than our being far too immersed in our jobs and home life inside our houses. There’s a great and beautiful natural world out there that too many pay little attention. I’ve decided that when the time comes for me to retire, I’m going to turn into a porcher.
A porcher is one who spends as much free time out on an open but fully screened porch which is large enough for seating, eating, and lounging while enjoying the essence of each day that has endurably warm temperatures. In the 1800’s the landed gentry built monster houses with all the bells and whistles and were keen to include grand solariums in their construction. I’ve seen old photos of smaller ones and others the size of small houses. There would be specially designed planters for tropical plants, flower beds, seating areas for reading as well as dining. Tall cottage windows that opened inward to allow for air movement during the summer months. Can you envision having a southerly exposed solarium off the back of your home where you can feel like you’re in a garden while watching the snowflakes falling outside? I’m sure everyone would be staying home more if they had such a beautiful room to savor. My big dis-like of decks and patios is the near constant pestering the bugs seem to enjoy. Several of my clients over the years when building their new homes did add sun rooms to the back of their homes and indeed enjoyed them immensely. They weren’t much of a comparison of those built by the 19th Century millionaires.
I had to visit a county courthouse today to do some research on a parcel of land that an owner wants me to evaluate. Since I was there, I thought I’d do a little digging into some of the old records that I’d been curious about for some time. I couldn’t have been more appreciative to one of the clerks in being so helpful since most courthouses across the State have their own little quirks when it comes to finding information. With that said, while reading some of the recorded documents, I was yet convinced that there are situations in families that become pan-generational. It’s almost as though family histories continue to repeat themselves over and over again. Is it learned behavior, or is it some sort of bad karma that follows and attaches to the next generation and the same sins or mis-givings continue. It’s almost like one giant wheel that moves so slowly and is so big that most don’t even know it’s a wheel and actually moving back around to its beginning. Having personally known a particular family for a number of years, and hearing about their predecessors from a generation that knew them previous, I’ve certainly noticed the same type of hatreds, greed, denial, and justifications. It doesn’t just pass from father to son or mother to daughter. It also passes from father to daughter and mother to son.
Having worked with so many families and generations of the same, I’ve come to notice that whenever there is born into that family a child who instinctively understands the bad that lives within, that child, because of the great insight and goodness that child possess, manages to break the curse and stop the movement of the wheel. I made the following statement to a great mind some days ago. “We all worry about our physical health and our financial health, but we almost always forget about our core spirit/soul health to where we find ourselves justifying actions that we would have never allowed had our invisible core not become so sick. If we all want to start breaking the curses that continue to move through our families, then it’s time to start getting our cores back into good health. Old sayings sometimes cut to the truth. Remember the sayings, “A bad apple spoils the barrel.” and “Rotten to the core.” I’m sure after reading this, you’ll understand to what core that refers. Even a bad onion rots from within. In another article I will tell my onion story.
