Just before leaving home this morning, I glanced to see what the temperature was outside. I can’t remember a year when it was 5 degrees outside with a windchill of -5 below zero in the month of April. It’s no wonder everyone’s getting cranky from being held hostage by their cabin fever due to our extended winter.
The four inches of snow we received was enough to get me out first thing to and at shoveling the front of my office before those early morning pedestrians started packing it down. Speaking of snow, I happened to cross paths with a business owner down the block from me. With him being on my planned call list, bumping into him saved me the effort. He may not have liked what I said, but after this winter’s snow, I told him once and for all, “If I should your snow removal people having pushed any more piles of snow on the back of my lot, I’ll call the City and have them deal with you and your workers because I’m sick and tired of people freely piling snow on the property of others.”
He seemed a bit shocked while asking, “Well what am I to do when there’s so much of it?” All I said was, “Have it hauled away like other businesses do, or pile it in one big pile on your own parking lot.” He thought he was going to make me feel sorry for him by saying, “Do you realize how much it costs to have snow hauled away?” Not wanting to debate something not worthy of debate, I replied, “I don’t know, and really don’t care because your snow problems are not mine.” We’ll see what happens next winter after today’s resolution.
Most of the rest of my day was spent working on the first of the month accounting along with making sure my closing files were in order. For being stuck most of the day at the office, I was surprised to find how quickly the hours passed. It was just another reminder to me how time passes all the faster when focused on productivity.
As with most families, whenever their last parents pass, it’s normally the case for their children to be given back any personal items that were gifted to them while living. With that said, I’ve had in storage for almost two years a beautiful print which I gave my mother some years ago which hung in her living room. It’s a winter farm scene that was professionally matted and framed.
Just these past weeks I’d been pondering the idea of donating it to Prairie Place on 1st so to be hung in one of their common areas. I shared my thoughts with the Director of Good Shepherd along with telling him what it looked like and its size. He thought it would make a nice addition to Prairie Place, so that was another green light. Several more weeks passed, and then yesterday arrived when my decision to gift it was made. After making sure the frame and glass was thoroughly cleaned, off I went to place it where I thought it would best fit. When I got back to my office, I called my contact at Good Shepherd to tell him where it was so he could have it hung.
As chance would have it, I was over at Prairie Place twice today for showings. When I stepped off the elevator on the 2nd floor, there it was, beautifully hanging just as though it had been chosen by a professional decorator. It gave me a chill or two to find the colors in that print coordinating with the wall color of that hall. Even its oak frame was a near perfect match to the baseboards and trim.
What almost brought tears my eyes, was when one of the 2nd floor residents called me late this afternoon to thank me for donating such a beautiful print. Before hanging up I said, “I hope all of you enjoy it as much as my mother did.” She assured me they would.
Her call today, once again re-affirmed my belief that are certain choices we make which are mysteriously meant to be, and most times they’re made for the enjoyment of all the many more. I’m sure my mother’s spirit is happy I gifted it to them, because when I saw it hanging there for the first time, I had an big, yet positive dose of the “chills”.
The above photo is one I took of more deer in our City!
