Rising earlier than normal this morning afforded me about an hour and half to change my clothes at the office and do some mowing and weeding in the lot behind my office. It really was quite pleasant being out there in the quiet of the early morning. I heard the city birds chirping more than the regular day-time motors of cars and trucks. I didn’t have to worry about waking up the loft tenants next door with my mower since it’s a motor-less reel type and my turn-of-the-century weed whacker is a hand scythe. Every time I mow with that reel mower reminds me of summer jobs I had mowing little old ladies yards. Some of them insisted I use their reel mowers of which I did. As long as their blades are kept sharp and the machines oiled once in a while, they really do a great job. Some golf courses still use them to mow their putting greens. After getting the backyard of my office in shape I found I had enough time to go over to an elderly client’s home and weed his flower bed that his regular yard person seems to overlook. He was quite appreciative, especially when he can now see a number of his miniature rose plants beginning to bloom. I think his rose bed must be protected enough from the harshness of our winters since they always seem to do well.
It absolutely amazes me how much time it takes out of one’s day to get monthly accounting done. I have to make sure I set aside a near half day to focus and get everything completed for another month and not have to go back to it. I was thinking how so many people pick at getting things done rather than keeping at it from beginning to end. It really does cut the time down when projects are done in that fashion. Bouncing around from one thing to another wastes too much time because of bouncing. Being stuck at the office longer than normally today offered me more glimpses of the leisure walkers. Some are so cute with their cameras and random photo taking of some of the buildings near my office. I can’t wait until all four blocks of North Federal are restored to their original beauty. Likely there’ll be some calendar shots of our cityscape.
My late afternoon appointment took me outside the City to an acreage that one of my customers wanted to see. I’d been there before when the weather was still chilly and that particular buyer wasn’t interested simply because of the amount of work needed. Today’s buyers would likely be a good fit since I’ve known him and his family and they are very hard workers and certainly not afraid of making improvements. It’s funny how sometimes one can drive past an acreage over the years and either see a building up of the site, or a wearing down. I’m afraid this particular site is in a wearing down mode but still worth the effort to bring it back. I do hope they purchase it so I can see their improvements taking shape. It’s all about commitment to a project from beginning to end. On my way home I happened to drive past a barn that I knew from the time I was likely 10 years old. I thought it appropriate to stop and take a photo of it. When I was young it was a grand working farm with a large two-story home. I always admired this big red barn because of its location on a hill where it could be seen from over a mile away. Farming practices have certainly changed and it makes me a little sad to see it falling into such a sad state. It’s yet another remnant of the golden age of farming.
