I Hear You

We can't always control life, but we can take charge of our reaction to it. (Sortor and McQuade, The Word On Life, 22 December)

We shouldn't believe the first argument we hear. The opposite side might make more sense. (The Upper Room Disciplines - 2008, 18 January)

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This morning rain is falling and the temperature is above freezing. The winter storm is passing to the north of us. We dodged another bullet. It's a good time to count our blessings.

Last night I watched part of a good program on BYUTv about the mismanagement of Yellowstone Park over the years. They had a lot to say about what happened after man killed all of the wolves in the park. It wasn't too long until the herds of elk and buffalo exceeded the capacity of the land to sustain the animals in winter. The account makes you wonder why man can't just leave things alone.

There are two business changes going on in the neighborhood which aren't good omens for the future. Bill's Hardware the small independent store, about a half mile from our house is closing. Eagle Checking where we went to use Western Union sold out to Cash Depot. Most of the equipment in the place was removed and all of the employees were laid off. Yesterday there was only one employee in the place. After waiting about fifteen minutes I left to go looking for another Western Union office.

Mr. Dickie
2/Feb/2011 7:37

We Are Not In Charge

If you want to do a good deed, do it now. The time will pass, and you will not have the chance again. (Anonymous in A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 18 October)

It's ... essential to find some time to be alone every day so you can turn within and pay attention to what your higher self is telling you. (Susan Smith Jones, Choose to Live Each Day Fully, Day 282)

I can find a healthy balance between my time with others and my time along. (Sefra Kobrin Pitzele, One More Day, 27 October)

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I tried to register online so we could add funds to our Western Union phone card. I couldn't get through the process and I couldn't understand their cryptic error messages. When I called the 800 number they wouldn't help me because the card is in Melva's name. I have a hunch that it would have been possible to help without violating any security issues if the person on the phone had been willing to work on the problem. When I got fed up with the conversation I just hung up and went back to adding funds by making a phone call to another 800 number like I have been doing for a couple of years.

I watched a report last night about the demolition of houses in Flint, Michigan. There are about 10,000 abandoned houses. It looked like many of them have been burned or trashed by squatters. The city is knocking down the houses and clearing the land. One of the leaders said they will turn the land into gardens and parks. I suppose there are other cities where the same thing is happening. The home owners in our development need to put our county authorities under pressure to stay on top of the situation where we have vacant homes.

Mr. Dickie