For The Right Reasons

Just about every way I looked at it, this Thanksgiving of 2023 ended up being one of the best ever for me, and mostly because I was free to do just about anything I wanted on this chilly, but bright and sun-shiny day.

Once I arrived at office, the first thing on my list, was to call my dear friend and wish her a happy Thanksgiving. Since I hadn’t spoken to her for days, we both has recent happenings in our lives to share, and unfortunately the both of us had some sad news to tell, but as we both know, we can only change the things which are in our power, and the rest of it is left up to the Almighty. Yes, in spite of being surrounded by close friends and relatives, we’re all at times singularly traveling down our own lonely roads, and tonight’s photo offers a good visual for us to remember.

As much as I wanted to visit with her longer, I’d made plans yesterday to head out of town as early as possible, just so I could take a long drive in the countryside, just so I could get some additional photos taken, as my inventory was beginning to get low.

It was definitely a delightful two and a half hour drive, where I actually ended up across the Minnesota border, and the one thing that was the most noticeable, was the lack of all those ‘eye-sore’ windmills. Yes, there were spots of one our two, but not like what’s going on in our surrounding counties, and especially up in Worth county. My gosh! How are those people living so close to those monsters, able to stand seeing and listening to them on a daily basis?

With it growing late, I decided to take I-35 back, and since I was greatly in need of a restroom, I stopped at Diamond Joe’s Casino and headed straight for the men’s. Since I was there, I figured I might as well throw twenty bucks down the drain with one of those slot machines, and that’s exactly what I did, so my time there was remarkably short to the point where the guard who directed me to where the restrooms were, was a bit surprised I was already leaving, so I said, “I used up my dollar limit, so it’s time to go.” Truth be told, I can likely count on both hands how many times I’ve darkened their doors since they open all those many years ago.

When I got back to my office, I took time to read the news feeds, and the article they had on KIMT’s regarding the moving forward with the ghost hotel build-out, for some reason, left me with the ‘feeling’, there’s still a fly in the ointment. I thought it interesting where David Rachie is getting his loan from a relatively small bank in St. Cloud Minnesota which specializes in agriculture loans. I also found it interesting where they’re saying it should be finished by the Fall of 2025.

The comments made by Councilman John Jaszewski were just a bit too flowery for my taste which were as follows: “All those years, we’ve done a lot of different projects, but this is probably one of the best we’ve ever done,” he said. “I think it’s going to make the downtown just that much more available and accessible and desired by the general public and folks all over the country, all over the Midwest.”

Ok, now let’s be realistic. Mason City’s population is declining, it’s not a university town, we don’t have a major high-tech employer like IBM, and we definitely don’t have anything particularly noteworthy that would encourage tourists from all over the Midwest to come here. Any time I hear people talking like that, leaves me to believe they don’t get out in the world much. Once again, I’m not being negative, but rather a critical forward-thinker. We must all remember, it’s just another ticky-tacky franchised hotel which’ll likely have the same footprint as all the many others across our country.

Once I had the news read, I changed my clothes and headed over to my little/big project, where I’d already given myself a big challenge to get that daunting project fully completed, and to my surprise, I managed to get the rest of if finished, and in spite of having my reservations about even starting it a number of weeks ago, I’m glad it’s over and looking far better than I ever would’ve imagined. Thank goodness I was taking short breaks during that three hour marathon, which was possibly why I remained steadfast in getting it completed. Yes, I’ll wake up tomorrow morning with a comforting thought there’s one more ‘to do’ off my list.

Those three uninterrupted hours, offered a good time to get some deep-thinking done, and today’s thoughts were mostly centered on how so many in our society have lost track of the real meanings of both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I’m sure today, there were all the many eating and drinking themselves silly, and likely not having any compassionate thoughts and words shared about those who’re going hungry, living in shacks with little heat, and wearing worn-out clothes. Yes, many are giving thanks today, but are they for the right reasons?

There’ve been times when I’ve had to catch myself when ‘giving thanks’, because I oft-times forget to be thankful that I’m still remembering to help those in need, and thankful that I’m continuing to work at freely and quietly helping others as much as I can. Yes, like many others, I’m thankful for all the creature comforts, but for me, that’s not enough. Being thankful for good health is another thing that’s regularly forgotten on Thanksgiving, but you can be sure, many are giving thanks for all the pricy ‘things’ and piles of dough they’ve amassed. I can already see in my mind, several senior women giving thanks, as they’re paging thru their investment accounts while thinking about the ‘legacies’ they’ll be passing on to their thankless children and grandchildren. I thank not.

Tonight’s One-liner is: Unseasonable kindness gets no thanks.

Joe Chodur

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