Monday Musings...
I want to EASE into this week, as it appears as though the temperatures have finally caught up with the season.
We're staring at (here in Indiana) highs all week in the mid-80s, and lows in the 60s.
Summer IS indeed...coming.
And what better way to demonstrate that than with some pictures, right?
We've got TWO (count 'em, 2) bearded Irises blooming (out of HOW many bulbs that have been in the ground for years?), and the roses are beginning to pop out. Lots of columbines are along the fence, and our yucca looks like a bloomer this year, too. And, naturally, we've got the curious "woodland" creatures, coming by to marvel at those humans who feed them every day.
Doesn't matter if 'ya have four feet or two wings...they're all welcome here.
But it's always the two-footed ones that are usually the problem...
We'll speak to that directly, but first, let's a take a little ride on "Bob's Tangent".
You can see we take a little pride in home ownership (and the property the house sits upon). We tend the garden, feed God's creatures, and basically keep our noses clean.
I did get to mow two of the (three) lawns on the corner.
The front lawn doesn't grow as quickly, so I might be able to fudge it for another week. While that's tiring (pushing a mower UPHILL, even if it IS electric), it LOOKS nice when you're finished, and anything around this area that has a pleasant appearance IS a godsend...and all too infrequent. It's nice to have a sens of ACCOMPLISHMENT now and again...just to let you know that whatever it is you do DOES have value...and is worth doing in the first place.
It's that sense of "stewardship" I speak about often....God sees fit to allow you to HAVE something, so you take care of it, because it's never REALLY "yours"...you're just holding it for the Creator for a spell.
And it's that way with everything in life.
One funny analogy would be those times when Dad used advise me: "Son, you never BUY beer...you RENT it".
Even if we "purchase" something...anything, we're all just caretakers of whatever item we bought...until we use it up, sell it, or whatever else might befall that item. If we're not taking good care of something...we WILL find out soon enough. If we are careless while in stewardship of whatever it is that we might "possess", it WILL manifest that carelessness.
So you can see that what's HAVING is worth TAKING CARE of....doesn't mean if it's an appliance, a vehicle, or a house. This ALSO applies in the realm of RELATIONSHIPS. You take care of a relationship, and it WILL (usually) endure.
You take care of something OR someone, and it / they will take care of you right back.
It's that simple....and I love doing "simple" (especially early in the morning...lol)
But meanwhile, back at the South side ranch....
We were discussing those TWO-footed creatures and the problems they cause, weren't we?
Luckily, one of those problems MOVED this past weekend (but alas, not the ones we'd LIKE to see move).
Yes friends, there are just SO many that need to move, and yet do not. I consider those my "works in progress".
I'm getting to the point where I will call into the police if they "cross the line" (or the property) in ANY way, shape or form.
I see them hanging near MY house - "suspicious person".
I hear any noise from their house - "nuisance", loud music, party, or a "disturbance".
It's the house down the street, that had those NINE police cars over the other week, that I'm talking about.
The house with the "domestic" calls that went into dispatch.
Yeah...THAT house.
They have a newbie stopping by and she (oh, yeah...the females of this species are JUST as loud...and JUST as arrogant) has a older Thunderbird that she loves to park "off-street" with the stereo thumping away, sometimes for a half hour.
Naturally, NO ONE ELSE will call this in (must be a case of "selective deafness").
And you know I'll be "featuring" this in my monthly "report" to our quadrant captain.
I'm saying that here...NOW, so you will be able to see "IF" and "WHEN" this problem is addressed...(if at all).
I figure if it's "public knowledge", then YOU can gauge whether or not the police are being AS EFFECTIVE as they CAN be.
Like I say, I'm a staunch supporter OF the police...BUT they have to be allowed TO police, and that means not going about and "warning" people time after time, after time, when a citation is truly warranted (after about the 37th warning).
You know where I'm coming from there, right?
You do already know about "Mr. Loudass" - that white f$cktard in that Buick LeSabre that's been booming around here for MONTHS and has not gotten caught, cited, or had the damn car impounded.
So, you get an idea as to the efficacy of some aspects of the department.
They let enough of the "small sh*t" go ignored and unpunished, and these locals will invariably escalate it into the bigger sh*t, which includes the homicides and drugs...amazing how that works, isn't it?
The other day, I used a Franklin (and Jefferson) quote about making people UNCOMFORTABLE in their poverty to get them out of it.
Same applies to this situation...perfectly.
If you make these locals UNCOMFORTABLE with doing all this stupid-ass "small sh*t" such as littering, and noise making, and loitering, and basically permitting an unaccountable attitude to be assumed BY these "people", they will stop doing it...or at least find ANOTHER place where they can get away with it all over again.
Hell, they might even start to become DECENT citizens...whatta concept.
And that might trigger a movement...BACK to responsible behavior (for everyone). Talk about equality running rampant, hmm?
You never know what can happen whenever a pebble is tossed into an ocean, do you?
It certainly wouldn't HURT to force these locals into some sort of accountability, would it?
And it sure as hell would make OUR lives down here a lot more tolerable.
Isn't that what life SHOULD be about?
Shouldn't it be about, at worst, being tolerable, and at best, being enjoyable?
We all fall somewhere in between many times, and occasionally, we slide off to one side or the other.
We take the good with the bad.
We attempt to work through that which is tolerable, and welcome that which is enjoyable.
Not a bad gig, if you ask me...
It's that appreciation for all those little things we oft times pass by that makes up for a LOT of the crap we happen upon each and every day.
If there's one thing we should always like to be...it's appreciative.
Because no matter where we find ourselves, we didn't get there all by ourselves...we had help.
And one should never be to prideful to ask for help when it's needed.
Appreciate the day, have a great week, make a difference to someone, and be sure to...
Stay safe out there, America.