Every year at this time, as we’re rapidly approaching the Autumnal Equinox, I become a bit sad knowing that our day’s will now gradually be shortening until December 21st rolls around, and then the process will start all over again. Dealing with the snow and cold is bad enough, but the added darkness is what makes winter loathsome at times.
Just recently, I heard there’s a gentleman who owns a home here in Mason City, as well as one in New Zealand, and travels back and forth every six months so to always have long pleasant days each year. Now that’s what I call an accomplishment! Can you imagine having such a life which the rest of us only dream about? I’m sure having two residents in each country is pleasurable, but I certainly wouldn’t want to be taking those gruelingly long flights there and back every six months. It wouldn’t surprise me if two or possibly three days are lost on each trip.
Not long ago I watched a video about a man who created his own type of greenhouse out in the upper reaches of northern Nebraska. It was exceptionally interesting to watch because what he did, was harness the near even temperature of the earth to keep his monster greenhouse at the required temperatures the entire year. He was even growing citrus fruits! If I’m not mistaken, he’s had that greenhouse in operation for over twenty years, as well as the home he built for his wife and himself which also harnesses the earth’s even temperature to heat and cool it as well. I was so impressed by his ingenuity, I began to wonder why more earth-friendly people haven’t caught on to such methods and create their own sustainable homesites.
If there’ll be any good changes in our future, I’m hoping all the more of our young will be coming up with new and better ways to lessen humanity’s “footprints” on this earth. We can only imagine what’s in store for us these coming years with these raging storms and irregular weather cycles that’ve started to take place on an annual basis. A dear friend of mine who lives in Clear Lake mentioned how all the more pronounced the differences were in their weather this years as compared to last. She’s very much into Nature and takes all the more time to notice the little differences we happen to miss due to our fast-paced lives. I marvel at her gardening abilities which she generationally acquired from her parents and grand-parents.
My public open house at 741 – 10th Street NE didn’t have the turnout I was expecting, which was likely due to our exceptionally beautiful weather. There were a great deal of people out and about today, and I think there was some sort of gathering at East Park which sounded like the Civil War re-enactment because I was hearing what sounded like cannon fire from time to time. For some reason, I thought those re-enactments were held much earlier in the year. Irregardless of my poor turnout, please make sure you tell everyone about that fine family home because it’s about as good as it gets if looking for quality of construction, a popular location, and a bargain-basement price.
Since having somewhat of a free day after an early church service tomorrow, I’ll have to plan for something I can poke my head into for the remainder of the day. I have an idea what I may be doing, and if I tackle it, I’ll be hoping I can get it finished in one long session of work. As I’ve mentioned before, getting oneself back to finish a dirty and messy project can be a real mental tug of war. If I should finally decide to do it, I’ll have to start psyching myself up for it before hitting the hay tonight.
I must mention a bit of chiding I did in an email I received from a vendor who was asking me to make contact with a sub-contractor. In two following sentences she used those annoying words, “reach out” and “reaching out”. Why on earth are people in our business world using such an expression? What’s wrong with using “contact”, or “call”, or “phone”, or even “text”? Whenever I hear someone say “reach out”, it sounds like there’s some sort of religious connotation or perhaps regarding a dire meta-physical happening that requires immediate attention. Ok. Here’s an example: “On her deathbed, the 103 year old lady opened her eyes when hearing her great-grandson’s voice and suddenly mustered enough strength to lift her arm and reach out to him for one last kiss before she died.” I’m hoping this example will help to clarify why I find the use of “reaching out” inappropriate in the business world. If I think of it, I’ll give you another example of it with religious overtones.
Tonight’s one-liner is: To be free from evil thoughts is God’s best gift.
