I was expecting the sun to be out in full force today, but that wasn’t Mother Nature’s plan for us. In spite of it being overcast, with camera in hand, I decided to take a drive over to Clear Lake just so to add to my collection of photos of which I attempt to share with you all the ones I believe best.
It was more lifeless over there than I’ve ever seen it, but of course it was an overcast Sunday morning in the middle of January. The only activity I found were those ice fishers braving the cold and possibly dangerously thin ice just so to have a chance to catch a big cold one. As much as I like being outdoors, I think that would be one of the last sporting activities I’d want to be doing on a winter morning.
There’s likely a cult following of those who brave such weather just so to catch a handful of fish. There’s no doubt many of them have established lasting relationships while out on that ice with nothing else to do other than watching their poles and holes while attempting to strike up conversation with whomever’s close by. From the looks of it, they must’ve been out there since the crack of dawn. Since I know nearly nothing about ice fishing, I’m guessing the fish bite better in the early morning hours because I can’t think of any other reason they’d be out there that early.
My real sight for sore eyes was seeing a flock of Canada geese on the open water along with what appeared to be a handful of swans. At first glance I thought they were white geese, but they were too big, and if our swans are now wintering-over in North Iowa, that’ll be yet another climate change shocker because I always believed they flew south. The only other possibility would be they’re a big breed of domesticated white geese that went wild and decided to hang around, but I’ll still wager those were swans.
When I returned to the City, I decided it was best to get started on my yearly tax accounting which for me is one of my least favorite things to do on a yearly basis. For some reason, I can only work about two or three hours a day on that stuff before I find myself walking away from it for a day or two. My hat goes off to all those tax accountants that deal with such crap on a daily basis because I’d be ready to climb the walls after just one full day of it.
The rest of my day was spent making a few over-due phone calls and doing a little grocery shopping. It was a typical Sunday when seeing all the more people lining the aisles of HyVee. I normally don’t shop there, but since Fareway is closed on Sunday, it ends up being either Aldi’s, HyVee or Target.
I did run into several past clients and customers while there so I did make time to play catch-up with their lives. One of them whom I’ve known for many years informed me his wife is suffering from a wicked form of cancer. While he was telling me about their journey of pain and suffering, I couldn’t help but shed a few tears because I empathize with anyone who’s having to deal with something like that on a daily basis. When he told me how little she now weighs, I could only imagine how emaciated she looks.
While on my way home, I couldn’t help but think of all the other healthy people who spend thousands of hours of their lives with their noses in their smart phones and/or glued to their computer screens. We can only imagine how much productivity is lost and possibly great contributions that never come to fruition just because of that one addiction. I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, “Smart phone and computer addiction is harder to cure than smoking, drinking, and even drug abuse.” If you don’t believe me, do you own research. The sad part about it is that those “information” addicts go into denial and feel absolutely no shame just as those with other additions do, and don’t get me started on the subject of all the added health issues related to such sedentary living.
The jury is still out regarding where I believe this is all going to lead us say 20 years from now. It’s no wonder why were seeing some of our millennials gearing their lives down and working all the more at getting back to the basics. Perhaps in the end, that group will be the catalyst for a good and lasting change which I believe is long-overdue.
I’m hoping you’re all having a delightful weekend and getting rested up for the week ahead. The above photo is one of many I took over at the lake this morning.
Tonight’s one-liner is: It is not only for what we do we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.
