If anyone possessing any sort of memory of the way our climate here in North Iowa used to be in comparison to today’s, and still believe our world is not being affected by man-made climate change, they’re completely and totally in denial.
How many times prior to say 20 years ago did we have rain and sleet in January? Some of the 100+ year old trees that’ve dotted our countrysides have even succumbed to the extra pressures of our changing climate. From the straight line high winds from abnormal directions, to ice storms weighing down their branches to breaking points, and everything else in between should at least give us a clue something’s wrong.
While out in Eastern Iowa several weeks ago, I paid special attention to all the groves of trees that had many of their tops broken off. And of course, we can’t forget about most recently having a 500 year flood, and then this past year one that came close to being a repeat. My heart still goes out to those poor people living in Greene who endured yet another flood last year. Do you believe they’re in denial of global warming?
In spite of it being dangerously slippery outside, I believe another one of my office listing’s just got sold today. I was confident it would sell more sooner than later since it was priced right, in a popular neighborhood, as well as being in great condition. I’m gonna have to work at getting a few more new listings on board before our Spring rush. As long as the interest rates stay within reasonable limits, we should continue to see buyer activity.
To my surprise, I didn’t wake up this morning with all the aches and pains from my marathon of removing dried paint splats on those wooden floors yesterday. I was thinking about having another go at the one remaining but decided against it when one of the tradespeople showed up asking for the key to finish up on his work there.
I mentioned to a young clerk today, “When out walking today, I felt like a greased pig on ice.” He laughed and said, “I’ve never heard that before.” I couldn’t help but say, “Oh, I’m filled with a whole lot more that many in your age group have never heard.” I did use one of my favorites on someone last week which goes, “Tit for tat, butter for fat, you kill my dog and I’ll kill your cat.” What was the most surprising, was that particular person who’s around my age having never heard it before.
Still trying to get my brain wrapped around our last elections, I happened upon an online article published by Spiegel which is a German newspaper. It’s quite long, but worth a read because after finishing it, I’ve finally come into more of an understanding now. The thrust of the article is about how far too many people as I’ve already believed, are becoming a bit hypersensitive to a world they somehow don’t consider themselves a part. I’m still convinced there are far too many smart-phone news feeds that are polluting our younger generations’s reality. After reading the article, I’m now up to speed with the concept of microaggression, cisgender, and being narcissistically unaware.
In reflection, I began thinking back to when I was in high school. I was more invisible than visible during those years simply because I sometimes had a heavy load to carry both in and outside of school. Whenever there would be a bullying student attempting to get under my skin, I’d endure as much as I could until I’d say something like, “If you don’t stop, you’re gonna get it.” Well if it didn’t stop, my mouth would unleash some of the most cutting words about that person’s personal and/or intellectual faults. Believe me, it wasn’t a plate anyone would’ve ordered for breakfast. With that said, I learned long before, where it’s better to study people from a quiet distance than to be yapping away in futile attempts to be part of the so-called “popular crowd”.
In quiet observation one can usually discover and remember an achilles heel or two. The following is the link to that article if you’re interested in a long, yet good article.
