I’m going to consider this month having come in like a lion today so it’ll go out like a lamb when it’s over. Thank goodness we’re not supposed to get the amount of snow that was predicted several days ago, but I’m not looking forward to those below zero days ahead. Oh well, for better or worse, you just gotta love North Iowa.
I had a showing today on an exceptionally old two story home that had one of those steep and almost serpentine stairways leading to the second floor. While walking thru it I was reminded how primitive people lived back in the late 1800’s in comparison to todays standards. I could see that the bathroom was added later when that district did finally get city sewers installed. Can you imagine what life would be like if we had to visit outhouses during these cold days? Of course there wouldn’t have been running water in that home when it was built, so likely somewhere on that property there’s a well that was covered over. Now think what it would be like having to go out to a well and pump water by hand when it’s below zero.
One of the fortunate things about having grandparents nearby, was being able to listen to stories being told from the years they spent growing up on farms. When thinking about it, I dare say I never once heard them complaining about having such hard lives that were filled with work from before dawn and past sundown. Perhaps that’s what gave them all that much more resiliency in mind and body as they grew older.
It’s unfortunate that more families don’t get together as much as they did in past generations because many in our younger crowd are pretty much clueless when it comes to the histories of their predecessors. I think the reason Ancestry and 23 and Me are growing in popularity with our young, is that they’re now looking for answers from those sites that weren’t supplied by their own families. After grandparents and parents are dead, there’s really nobody to go to for questions they’re wanting answered. I’ve been hearing some interesting stories about family histories from people who’ve taken the leap and “spit” in the bottle.
One of my older clients called today just to say “Hi” and tell me about things that’ve happened on her side of the fence. Like many in our senior group, she’s been staying pretty close to home after last weekend’s blizzard and busying herself with cooking, baking and freezing. Today’s project was a big pot of soup which required about a four hour cooking time. She said it was one of her favorites and when hearing the number of ingredients contained, I couldn’t help but be a little wicked by saying, “It sounds like you’ve got everything except the kitchen sink in that pot.”
I had a large ad placed in today’s edition of the Charles City Press for Prairie Place on 1st. The ad director sent me a copy of the page it was on and I couldn’t help being exceptionally impressed by the quality of their newspaper. When a community the size Charles City can put out a daily paper that good, then why can’t our Globe Gazette do the same with their even larger circulation. I was told their paper is popular but wasn’t much of a taker until I saw it first-hand today which certainly made a believer out of me.
I’m hoping there’ll be some real interest in those condominiums from that ad because we’re finding more elderly people moving here from our surrounding communities. It only stands to reason when considering how Mason City has become more of a “hub” for North Iowans. After this winter is over, I’ll not be surprised if there’ll be all the more elderly throwing their shovels away and purchasing those remaining units. There’s no question in my mind that after they’re all sold, there’ll be some who’d looked at them but didn’t pull the trigger, and later wished they did.
Here’s hoping you all a safe and restful weekend ahead. And please be careful on these “greasy” roads.
Tonight’s one-liner is: The average American worker has fifty interruptions a day, of which seventy percent have nothing to do with work.
