It’s finally quit raining, but when will the wind stop blowing so hard? There were two more monster branches that I noticed today that were the result of this wind. Thank goodness that one big limb of an oak tree managed to fall between two houses and land smack dab on a driveway. The owner of that house has got a big job of clearing away to do tomorrow. Since part of it had fallen on the City right-of-way, someone had already barricaded-off that area, and likely so there wouldn’t be some thoughtless person trying to step over it while walking down that public sidewalk.
When visiting with someone living in Southern California today, I discovered they’ve been having much more rain and below normal temperatures similar to our. It was hard to believe they were getting snow in their mountains above the 5,000 ft. mark. Southern California must be getting something like the San Francisco Bay area where they have an over-abundance of cloud cover. No thank you! You couldn’t pay me enough to live in an area where all the many more days are cloudy.
Since we were getting some sunshine this morning, I decided to drive over to 115 S. Connecticut and take new exterior photos, and one of them being tonight’s feature shot. There’s no question in my mind how easily I could live in that charming home, and of course I absolutely LOVE the neighborhood. Every time I’m there, I get this wonderful “grounded” feeling, which is likely due to it having a double circle floor plan, and top of the line Marvin replacement windows in the entire home. Now if any of you are familiar with Marvin Windows, you know they’re the Cadillac of windows. You can be sure most buyers have no idea how well made they are, as well as their ability to out-perform any of their competitors.
I decided to have a public open house on 24 – 11th St. NE this coming Saturday in hopes there’ll be a growing family that will fall in love with it. With the shortage of larger homes growing, I’m going to remain confident it’ll get sold all the sooner. I keep telling people, “If you don’t like the price, make an offer.” I think buyers sometimes get far too hung-up on asking prices to where they think it’s an insult to sellers when coming in with lower offers. We all have to remember, when purchasing homes, the prices are almost always negotiable.
My continuing education class this afternoon was at the Chamber of Commerce Center that’s not far from my office. The first thing I noticed as I was climbing the stairs, was seeing how grimy those handrails were to the point I didn’t even want to touch them as I walked up. I can’t believe their staff or cleaning crew haven’t noticed. Oh well, we all get used to just about anything as long as we look at something long enough to where it becomes invisible.
The class was being conducted by a man named Jorge Gomez whom I’d not met before since he’s out of the Quad Cities area. I know he’s been here before, but my schedule was always conflicting at those times. He’s somewhere in his late 50’s or early 60’s and quite the personable chap, and by far, all the more interesting than other instructors I’ve had to listen to over the years.
What I liked about him most, was his ability to keep the class engaged with pertinent real estate stories, along with the number of question and answer sessions. Most instructors pass around hand-outs which we are asked to follow along with, which oft times becomes annoyingly boring to a point where you want to ask, “If I read and understand all of this, will you give me a quick test, and if I pass, may I leave?”
After the class was over, I headed back to my office and returned emails and phone calls that came in while I was gone. When finding I had about an hour to kill, I decided to drive up to Worth County and visit that small country cemetery where my grandparents are buried. When I arrived, I noticed several young men mowing, so I made sure to park where I wouldn’t be blocking their truck.
The last time I was there, it was cold and the trees were without leaves. Well, it’s amazing how a person forgets where their people are buried when not actively remembering which section and row in which they’re “planted”. I was about ready to slap myself for having carelessly walked past them, until I realized they were in an row facing an opposite direction.
While I was looking for them, I noticed how many tombstones had been vandalized. The more I noticed, the more I looked, to where I became internally furious with whomever carried out such heinous acts. When looking at the size of those granite stones that were tipped over, I’d say there was more than one person committing those crimes. I would say the desecration of a grave is about the most evil-minded thing someone can do to the memories of those that have passed before us.
While driving back to the City, I tried to justify in my mind the reason or purpose for people to do such things right here in North Iowa. Yes, you see such craziness happening in third world countries, but right here in America? Wow! I’m not one for wishing ill on others, but I do believe in karma, and for sure, whomever did that, more sooner than later, will pay dearly for such blatant dis-regards for the dead. I’m wondering if they’re having nightmares about what they’ve done. Wouldn’t that be interesting?
Tonight’s one-liner is: If we cannot come together to pause, to respect our dead and the heroic lives of meaning they led, then ours is truly a civilization lost.
