July 7, 2011

  • A few random thoughts on this very hot July day.

    My husband celebrated a birthday yesterday.  We did something fun......we went to  Amy's Bookcase, the independent used bookstore that has been in Farmington for about 30 years, and we've been going there almost that long!  Doyle picked out some books and then we went to Goodwill, where I found two books.  We went to Hastings where we used two gift cards we've had for probably almost two years and then we went to Outback and had a lovely dinner.  To top it all off we went to the Vanilla Moose and  had an ice cream cone.  But the icing on the cake were phone calls from his three "kids".  It made him very happy!  We  have such a wonderful family!

    At Hastings bookstore I was struck by all the books (novels) about the Amish or Plain people.  I've noticed this phenomenon in the last ten years or so.  I myself have read a lot of them, as I've always been very interested in their lifestyle.  However it seems that there are way more books about them then ever before.  I've decided it's because most of our lives are so crazy busy that we are looking for an escape from the hectic lifestyle that most of us have.  We think the Amish or Mennonite way of life is quieter and simpler.  It beckons us because we are looking for quiet and simple.  But I find it interesting that in a non-Christian bookstore, on prominent display are lots of books sporting people  in plain clothes.  Maybe we need to think about why we are so enamored with this group of people...., maybe we need to slow down and live simpler lives.  We can do it,  I know we can, but it would take a huge shift in how we think and how we live.

    Along with that thought on the way home from grocery shopping today I was stuck behind a pickup that had been "upgraded" (I'm sure they thought so anyway), "tricked out" or whatever they call it.  It was a normal pickup, but the tires belonged on a semi-truck (I'm sure, they were so tall that they towered over a normal car next to it).  I'm sure you would have needed a ladder to climb into the cab.  It was absolutely "over the top".  I hope it wasn't just for effect, surely it was for necessity of some sort.  Surely!!

    Changing the subject totally.....Doyle and I worked like "dogs" literally last week, 8-10 hour days on our rental.  We took a week to fix it up when our ex-renters moved out.  The trailer had been pretty well beat up.  Doyle spent days repairing and painting things, I spent days painting and cleaning it.  We hung mini-blinds and I went to thrift stores and bought curtains, it looked cute as a button when we were done with it, we rented it to the first people that looked at it.  They fell in love with it.  But sad to say, two days after they moved in, we were informed of a policy (not new but finally being enforced) of every resident over 18 moving in the trailer park having a background check done on them.  Our tenants failed the background check and so two days after moving in, they now have to move out all because of several DWI's in their background (and possibly some other problems we aren't aware of).  We think it is a good policy to have in effect there, but feel very sad for our tenants.  The wife was in tears when Doyle had to tell her they would have to move and I kept thinking....if only people really understood that their choices have far-reaching consequences in their lives.  Maybe people would think before drinking and driving, maybe people would take their actions more seriously.  Where will they go?  I don't know...but now our place is up for rent again. We hope and pray that someone moves in soon and will love our place.

    And in other news.  It is HOT here, really hot!  And we need rain!  Our corn loves this heat, but our tomatoes do not!