There is a popular book that I am in the middle of reading (on the advice of a coworker) - The Saint, The Surfer, and The CEO; a decent read so far, but parts of it feel like a pre-scripted interaction within an Amway presentation, with people planted in the audience. Regardless, there are some interesting theories put into the book and I shouldn't discount it on the basis of it's mechanically contrived feeling. One of the concepts put forth in the book is that within the complexity of life, circumstances and teachers are sent our way repeatedly until we learn what they were sent to teach. I can not truthfully disagree in this case. It has felt for some time like the people and circumstances in my life are there to teach me to stop being so headstrong and independent, learning to be more socially passive and take help and acts of kindness instead of being the one who always gives them. My other lesson seems to be in the areas of patience and tolerance... Being a bit of a social introvert, I have a strong aversion to people who talk a lot while not expressing anything useful or meaningful, suddenly it seems like I am being surrounded with them everywhere I go, babbling non-stop and sometimes trying to engage me in conversation. I have to keep reminding myself that they do it because they want approval and camaraderie, seeking a connection just like any other human being. I just need to step back and patiently allow them to come into their own and hopefully outgrow the tendency toward verbal incontinence.
I was playing around with google maps a few weeks ago and stumbled across a woodland lake I had never seen before...
...and only a stone's throw away from one of my favorite hiking trails. It was in a section of the woods which I thought I had known like the back of my hand while growing up. Obviously I didn't know the woods as well as I thought, so I decided to go out and find it. After traversing the trail to where I figured was the nearest point, I guessed which direction the lake would be in and I bushwhacked through about a half mile of underbrush and ended up right on the shore...
...on further exploration around the entire perimeter of what turned out to be more of a large pond, I found a well-marked ATV trail leading from the other side of the lake onto a neighbor's property about a quarter mile away, but I also found something else interesting...
...on the shore of the pond was an old, decrepit sugaring house that looked like it was on the verge of falling down...
...note the large collecting tank for the sap...
...there were faint traces of an old (and long since grown-in) road leading to the structure and miscellaneous bottles & rusted out equipment lying around. I wish I knew the history of this structure: the conversations that may have taken place, the people who worked in it. If it was a family business... I am hoping to talk with the neighbor who presumably owns this property and ask about it.
More Miscellaneous Pictures:
Weird anthropomorphic stump aquarium ornament at work
My feline children resting comfortably
My former roommate brought 'Spud' for a visit at my workplace and she dressed him up in one of the small dog costumes.I'll wrap this up with a cutesy-amusing video of 'Ozzy', a Brussels Griffon owned by one of my coworkers, reacting strangely to having winter paw-wear put on him.
4 comments:
Lots of stuff in this post. Great photos and I love how you used Google maps to find that lake--very cool.
Staying with parents can be difficult for a few days over the holidays, but a whole winter...
I can relate to a lot about what you write in being an introvert and all, and I agree with the teaching that the same sort of people come into our lives until we learn the lesson they hold for us. If nothing else, this shapes us and makes us less ego-centric. One thing that I worry about as a single guy is that I will become more and more insulated and set in my ways. Being in a relationship, having family or people at home can soften and shape us.
Hiya Peterson... I know what you mean about friends & family at home softening us. I often have the same worries in regard to becoming stubborn and set in my ways (in the wrong ways). The key really is in keeping yourself open and creating a warm, supportive space within yourself in order to receive and maintain the friends and other loved ones in your life.
Hope all is well.
I moved back in with my mother when I was in my late 20's, so I can relate. I spent most of my time out, away from home, but it wasn't too bad for me because my room was upstairs and she hardly ever went upstairs. That sounds like we were distant, but we had a good relationship.
Steve, that sounds like a carbon-copy of my life process right now. I am grateful that they are willing to put me up so I don't have to go through the stress of multiple moves... but I do not spend much time at home because I am bored to tears just sitting around my parents' house. I've visiting friends a lot more than I used to and have been coming into town a lot to window-shop and spend more time at the library.
Post a Comment