It was a Monday worth remembering and I’m glad it’s coming to a close. I’d already prepared myself for my appointments and pretty much knew there would be a great deal of time spent with several of them. I pretty much try to give every buyer as much time as they need to inspect a home, but today I had two of them back to back. I was certainly glad to have another closing take place that was not moving along as quickly as I’d expected, but it did get finished and my buyer is a the happier. I mentioned again to a colleague how much I dis-like 11th hour changes because that’s usually when something goes awry. Tomorrow’s work load should be a bit more stabilized and I’ll be glad for it.
My free time has been spent these past several months working on a personal project. As always, there are those unplanned little extras things needed to be done that seem to require the most time. Of course I usually become oblivious to the days and hours spent on a project due to my being super-focused. There’ve been people that have asked me, “How do you manage to get so much accomplished.” My usual reply is, “There are two ideas one must keep in mind when working on something and they are, staying focused and remaining diligent.” There isn’t some invisible switch I turn on when working on something. Instead, I do nothing more than set aside the time each day and do it. It’s amazing when you think about how much gets done during the course of a month if a block of time is spent working at some little or large project. Think of the book copyist and illustrators during the Middle Ages who would spend hours each day copying and illustrating by hand each page of precious books. If you’d ever take a moment and look up the Book of Kells and inspect the workmanship of the creators, you’d say, “How could it have possibly been done in the times when there was no electricity or centralized heat?” Vision, talent, and above all, determination was the driving force in creating that work of art. Year after year they labored away to create something that has survived many centuries. I marvel at such workmanship and only wish there were others in our time that would put their artistic abilities to work. As I’ve said before, “Any time I see something uniquely beautiful that’s been created by the skills of mind and hand, I bow to such an achievement.” One of my relatives is very artistic and I commend her every opportunity I have as everyone should with those in their families. Honest encouragement helps to give them an extra boost.
I was showing an acreage today that has an apple orchard on it. It made me sad to see how neglected the trees were. I told the buyer that most of the trees would likely have to undergo several years of trimming and pruning to get them back into shape so they’d bear better fruit. Of course there were a number of rogue trees that were growing too close which was creating all the more stress for them. To make matters worse, the bulk of the trees on the property were Ash and likely going to die soon from the wave of Emerald Ash Borers that are making their way into our area. I’m just glad I have only one instead of many. I feel sorry for all the acreage owners who have groves of them and nothing else. By the time the infestation and killing is over, those homesites will look as though they’d been stripped naked of trees. I think I’d be planting replacement trees now instead of waiting until the end.
