Yours truly got a good workout today with a project that’s had nearly all my free hours consumed for the past two weeks, but at least I managed to get it finished up on time and everyone’s happy including me.
As chance would have it, my most recent listing got sold today, and it came as no surprise considering the number of showings we’ve had scheduled since I listed it late on Friday. I was pretty sure it would sell in a relatively short period of time because of the size of the garage, the yard, the location, and overall condition of the home. You just can’t find much of anything under 100K that offers all of those features. The southwest-side of our City is becoming all the more popular these past years, and most often, those owners are staying put.
It seems the more a given buyer can get closer to the edge of our City, the more attractive it is. They want all the conveniences of living in town, but like the feel of being close to the country. I’ve noticed again this year how well the tricked-out acreages have been selling to the young folks, and the closer they are to Mason City and no gravel to drive on, the higher the sale prices are.
There was a young couple who purchased an acreage on a hard surface road only about a mile outside our City limits, and sold their nearly new home on the edge of town just so they’d have more freedom to do their “country” things. When I saw how much they paid for that acreage, I figured it was the husband’s call on that purchase. I’d noticed he’s quite the hunter of just about anything that comes into season. Some day I’ll have to ask his wife if they eat everything he kills.
Someone told me a story some months ago about the coon chile that was being served at a gathering and none of those present having been told where the meat came from. Oh you can bet there were some pretty hot attendants when they found out they’d eaten coon meat. One of my very distant relatives would eat just about anything, and when he told me how much he loved baked coon, I thought I was going to loose it. Wicked me couldn’t help asking if he had to crawl down into one of our storm sewers to get one since that’s where our City coons are taking up residence if they can’t find someone’s attic to break into.
Welcome to September! What little I was outdoors, I’d say it was quite the pleasant day and with the hurricane affecting the East Coast, I’d say we’re going to see some warmer weather with precipitation if it moves far enough inland. I haven’t looked at the weather yet, but it won’t surprise me if it’s following the predicted path. I’m just hoping there won’t be any deaths reported. You can always rebuild, but you can’t replace lives.
I read just a tidbit of today’s headlines of the Globe Gazette. It sounds like all the more are taking those DNA tests just to get a few more answers regarding their ancestry. The more sophisticated those test become, the more skeletons people are going to find in their closets. I find it interesting that many of the younger crowd are doing it, because for years, most of them could’ve cared less about the lives of their relatives who’d gone before them.
Most people think all our European ancestors came here looking for more opportunities, but there were also those who crossed the big pond to escape religious persecution, and after they arrived, they claimed allegiance to whatever religious group was the most popular in the areas they settled, and that was that. It would only stand to reason when thinking how complete their new lives in America were to be. Starting with a clean slate gave them the freedom to begin totally anew.
I’ve been meaning to mention these past several days how many more of those nasty Japanese Beetles I’ve seen around our City. They seem to be everywhere this year, and if you don’t see them, you certainly discover the damage they’ve done. Of course their most loved edibles are roses which are one of my favorite flowers. I couldn’t help but notice the damage they’d done to a beautiful Linden tree several days ago. You can only imagine how much stress those munching devils place on those plants, trees and shrubs. Every time I see one on a leaf, I’m on it. I did recently read that they also love eating Strawberry and Raspberry leaves and flowers. We can thank globalization for all these nasty insect immigrants. All we can do is remain diligent with keeping their numbers down.
The above photo is one I took early this morning when out at the cash machine behind the west office of Clear Lake Bank and Trust. I couldn’t believe how tame they appeared. There were five chicks eating the seeds of a weed plant near a dumpster, and the mother and sixth chick were perched on a picnic table nearby. For being so ugly, I still think they’re terribly cute. I’d say that shot is a good example of nature and progress coming together in balance.
Tonight’s one-liner is: How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.
