It looks like we’re on a roll with the arrival of yet another wonderful North Iowa day. It won’t surprise me if these warm days will continue as one of many after-affects of hurricane Florence. Often times, whenever there’s a hurricane in the south or southeast, our temperatures are warmer than normal, and unfortunately we sometimes get accompanying moisture.
My heart goes out to those hundreds of thousands of people who’re going to be affected by it. From what the meteorologists have been saying is that Florence’s path is going to be straddling the borders of North and South Carolina as it makes its way inland, and then turn and start moving northward. One of the reports I read today was the fear of those numerous hog confinements in her path, will most likely be flooded, along with the overflowing of their sewage ponds. Now that doesn’t sound a bit good for the many rivers and streams in the area. It’s just one more confirmation of what I’ve noticed, which is how much more intense and violent our world’s storms have become. No matter if we call it climate change or global warming, it’s real, and every year appears to be getting worse.
One of my appointments today was to meet a young gentleman who does hauling as a side job. The previous tenant who lived there far longer than he should have, left a large amount of personal belongings that has to be hauled away. For as long as I live, I’ll never understand how tenants believe they have the right to just take what they want, and leave the remainder of their junk and garbage for their landlords to clean up.
After he gave me his bid, he went on to tell a few horror stories regarding homes he’s helped clean out. In spite of being a generation below me, he’s of the same mindset to where we both have no comprehension of what goes on in the minds of so many of those naughty monkey tenants. They want nothing to do with physical work both inside and out, but if it’s something connected to online computers or smart phones, they’re on it. I couldn’t help but interject, “There’s no wondering why so many of our young and middle-aged are growing all the fatter.” Since he also does yard work, there was no mincing of words when saying, “Have you noticed how scruffy so many lawns and gardens there are around town?” I laughed saying, “Oh yes! It looks like the real “Duck Dynasty” men with their scruffy beards and sloppy clothes are wanting their homes and gardens to be matching.” He got a good laugh out of that.
I’m still of the belief, there’s a way to get our citizenry to clean up their yards here in River City. Everyone in our “look at me” generation likes to win prizes along with being noticed, so why can’t we have some sort of on-going competition within quadrants of our City to where the best looking lawn and landscaping in those districts win prizes, as well as being publicly recognized. Wouldn’t that help to spur some positive action?
Speaking of prizes, I went out and picked up the hand-made pumpkin wreath I won yesterday. It was far more attractive than I’d imagined. At first I thought about giving it to one of our nursing homes, but at the last minute, I chose to give it to the kindest of secretaries who always has a smile and positive thoughts to share whenever I see her. When I arrived and handed it to her, she was a bit teary-eyed when seeing how beautiful it was, and of course had to thank me far too many times. Yes, I believe I made the right “gifting” choice.
The highlight of my day was having crossed paths with a young man who’s a die-hard advocate of bettering Mason City. He mentioned that he reads my posts nearly every day. I couldn’t help but ask, “Do you like them?” His answer was, “Yes I do, because you always have something interesting to talk about.” I was not only touched by his genuine words, but also encouraged to continue sharing my daily thoughts and experiences.
While at an office today, one of the owners came up to me and handed me a gift out of her garden which was a miniature white pumpkin. Isn’t it the cutest? Seeing and talking about it, brought me up to speed regarding the growing of miniature white pumpkins. With all the genetic engineering going on, it comes as no surprise. I’m still waiting for our botanical genetic engineers to develop a true-blue hybrid tea rose. Now that’ll be something to see. If that should happen, we’ll be seeing petals from our red, white, and possibly blue roses, being used to create a giant rose petal US flag.
Tonight’s one-liner is: The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight, but no vision.
