Being fully aware that it rained last night, I was certainly surprised how high and near over its banks the Winnebago River was when driving past it this morning. I think the towns upriver from us must have received quite a bit more rain than we did for the river to be so high. It sounds like we may have another repeat storm tonight and judging how muggy it is outside, it’ll likely happen.
I couldn’t have been more pleased by the number of visitors at my open house today. There was someone there nearly all the time. One of the couples in attendance were people who grew up here, and when they retired, decided to move back to Mason City for a more quiet and gentler life. Since they’ve been living here for about four years I asked them how they like it. The wife said for the most part, they’re happy they made the move. They said the groceries and services are cheaper but the gas, electric, water, sewer and garbage is more expensive than where they came from.
They were quick to mention how happy they were to see the slaughterhouse being voted down since they were fully familiar with slaughterhouse cities. I told them they are going to be with others the new driving force behind our future population growth. I read about it much and see it enough here in Mason City which confirms what’s been foretold. Retirees really don’t want to be living in fast paced environments where everything is geared to the working younger crowds. I didn’t hesitate to mention my many travels when younger and when arriving home I would be ever thankful for living in a smaller community. My favorite line when speaking about my vacations was always, “A nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there.” People continue to speak of Southern California as being a “promised land” of sorts, but comparing our benefits with theirs, I’d still remain here. One thing people don’t realize about Southern California is that it’s so densely populated. Their freeways continue be widened and extended for the added traffic from the growing population. Housing costs are so far out of reach you’d have to mortgage your children and grandchildren to be able to afford their prices. And of course they always pull the “ocean” card when in debate. Now really. Since you’d likely have to work two jobs to make ends meet, how ever would you have time to fully enjoy the ocean beaches? I’m not bashing California or any of the other “promised lands” of our country, but rather trying to be realistic in my thinking. Yes, we’ve not the most pleasant winters, but we could be living in an area a whole lot worse like somewhere high in the Dakotas where their summers are exceptionally shorter than ours. For better or worse, I still like Mason City most.
On my way home I thought it best to stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things and of course they were busier than normal with it being Saturday. All I can say about the way some people go out in public is, “Shameless”! One young woman was wearing a loose type of jumpsuit that I swear had nothing underneath. I simply shook shake my head and kept walking. As I was walking out I noticed a swarthy little man without a shirt taking cans from the fireworks bin and carting them back into the redemption center as if they were his own. He went at it as if it was no one’s business but his. I wouldn’t be surprised he emptied the whole bin and is now sitting under a tree getting stoned from the proceeds of the fireworks bin. They really shouldn’t have boxes like that sitting around as it just invites thievery. When seeing such things, I wonder sometimes if humanity has fallen off track and rolling sideways downhill.
