We started our day with gray skies and a little rain, but not long after the strong winds arrived again, but this time out of the south. Can you believe it was seventy-six degrees in the Downtown this afternoon? Talk about a big swing in temps over the last 24 hours.
My entire morning and part of my afternoon was spent showing homes in Hancock County, and my first stop was in Kanawha which is a good hour’s drive from my office, which meant I had to be on the road at the hour of eight.
Even though my buyers knew the one in Kanawha didn’t have a garage, they wanted to see it anyway, and by the time we walked out, they pretty much decided they couldn’t live without a garage the many months and possibly years it would take for them to get one built.
The other home I showed was in Britt which is a good ten miles north of Kanawha, and unfortunately that home needed more work than they were willing to tackle, so back to Mason City we headed to look at one that was just listed.
The Mason City home had just come on the market yesterday, and since it was listed, I’d say there must’ve already been seven or eight showings on it. My buyers liked it, but unfortunately they didn’t have their pre-approval updated since the interest rates have risen. While walking out I mentioned that it would likely sell quickly, and wouldn’t you know, about an hour later the listing agent sent me a text saying there were multiple offers submitted on it this afternoon.
I’m sure you’re thinking nearly my entire day was a waste of time and gas, but not completely because I got a real good look at the countryside of an area of Hancock County I’d never seen before, and it all started when I decided to take a different route which was completely new to me.
Until this morning, I didn’t realize how hilly the lay of the land is when driving south of Duncan, and it continued on for a good five miles or more. What I didn’t like, was seeing all those monster wind turbines on hillsides which to me spoiled the view, but when I got closer to Kanawha the land became almost table-top flat, and showing off some rich-looking black soil. I’m sure their yields on those acres are on the high side.
About a mile south of Britt, I happened to notice an old farmstead with some buildings on it which reminded me of those I’d see in Northern Europe because their barns are much longer and not as wide as what you’d normally find in our area. I’m sure whomever homesteaded that farm must’ve decided they wanted their outbuildings to look like what their parents or grandparents had in Europe. The next time I’m in Britt, I’ll be taking my camera with me, just so I can drive down to that place and get a few photos of it from the road.
On my way back to Mason City, I actually had to keep a strong grip on my steering wheel because of how windy it had become. Some of those gusts were really strong, and most noticeable whenever on an incline. Especially in the Kanawha and Britt area, I also glimpsed even more recently downed tree limbs and roofs with temporary patches over areas where shingles had been ripped off.
After my appointments were finished, I headed over to a groceteria to pick up a few things and then headed back to office to get some more clearing-out done, and today I started tackling a storage room where I found a small stack of old newspapers from 1945. At first glance I wasn’t sure where I got them, but then remembered I’d picked them out of a throw-away bin at an estate home I had listed a very many years ago.
I decided to take some photos of them because they were real headliners back then, so tonight’s is the first one of a handful. My goodness! I’m sure back when that war was over, there would’ve been no one believing that we’d be now feeling the aftereffects from 77 years ago.
There’s no question many in our general public don’t connect the Stalinization of Eastern Europe with what Putin is now trying to resurrect. Unless there are those who dig deeper into the chain of events after the war ended, most don’t realize that Stalin allied himself with Hitler because they’d made a secret agreement to partition Poland, which makes him just as guilty as Hitler for starting the Second World War. Well, those two didn’t stay in bed with each other very long because Hitler turned on Stalin and took control of Poland and then pointed his army in the direction of Russia. I’m still of the belief that Russia should’ve been considered part of the Axis Powers because of Stalin’s alliance with Hitler. I’ll never forget about those 2K+ Polish officers he had murdered.
There’s likely no one in the general public of Russia who’d believe that if it weren’t for all the extra help coming from the United States and Great Britain, Russia would’ve fallen. So what happened after the war ended? Stalin made a fast land-grab for everything his troops could occupy. Yes, there was a big push by our Allied Forces to get those lines draw before Stalin took an even bigger bite. My how history repeats itself. The free world allowed Putin to get away with grabbing Crimea and installing puppet governments in Eastern Ukraine, so here we are again.
I heard just today that Putin has already prepared some very fake news for his Victory Day on May 09th. It’ll be another one of his cheap fictions.
Tonight’s One-liner is: Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.
