Flowering Red Oak
It was definitely a welcome relief when finding the sun shining once again, but of course the northwest wind is back at it, so don't be surprised if you have to do some watering soon because of that drying wind.
I had a great deal of running around to do today, along with following up on some repairs which were supposed to have been done months ago on a property which sold at the time, which caused me to become a little on the brittle side while on the phone with the person who told me at the time, it would be done pronto. I couldn't help saying such oversights create bad impressions on not only him, but myself as well. I did get a call back saying the replacement part was ordered today and should be here in a week, so hopefully it'll all be taken care of before the end of the month.
Having taken a different route to office today, I happened to notice a guy digging thru one of our City's recycle bins at a curbside, and likely looking for redemptive cans and bottles, which was the first time I've seen that happening. Yes, there's nearly always someone scratching thru our downtown dumpsters, but seeing it happening in an upscale residential area, certainly raised the bar. I had a quick thought about those people picking bottles and cans, and wondering why they'd be going to so much work when knowing they'd have to pick and redeem 20 of them to end up with a dollar. You'd think they could find some part-time jobs that would pay better, along with keeping them out of the elements. Someone recently told me the reason we have the dumpster divers and petty thieves, is because those people are of the mindset where they'll do just about anything to maintain their so-called 'freedom'. I'll likely never be able to get my brain wrapped around their reasoning.
That promising buyer I was working with several days ago, never did call me back to schedule a meeting, so I'll be chalking up another block of time that was wasted. Not to worry because after being in the real estate business for as long as I have, I simply consider it all part of the whole scheme of selling real estate in North Iowa.
While out and about this morning, I happened by chance to notice a flowering red oak which appeared to have one heck of a lot of green flowers on it, so likely this will be the year for that one to have a major dumping of acorns this Fall, so I stopped and took the above photo of it, just so you'll now know what their 'flowers' look like. I've always liked the way in which red oak trees grow which reminds me of Christmas trees, and from what a tree person once told me, they're the only ones which grow in such a fashion. I did notice where our city's been randomly planting white oak trees as replacements for all the dead Ash, but unfortunately they weren't doing any critical forward-thinking because once those oaks get to be big enough, they'll be dropping acorns on sidewalks and streets, and let me tell you, acorns and walnuts are definite trip-hazards, as I've swept off enough acorns off sidewalks and driveways to plant a forest.
About a block away from my office, there's a tavern which has a regular patron who's been feeding a clutch of squirrels on the public sidewalk. Just the other day there were three of them fighting over those hand-outs in a topsy-turvy fashion. Just what we need, is more squirrels running around our downtown and likely nesting in our historic buildings. To this day, I still believe a squirrel had a 'tooth' in causing that electrical fire over at the Kirk Apartments. I know they were nesting somewhere over on the west side of that building because I'd often see them running in that direction across The Manor parking lot. I don't think we'll ever know exactly what started that fire. I'm still in a bit of denial over that being gone, even though it's been close to a year since it burned. Now curious me will have to look back in last year's log to see exactly what day in May it caught fire. My how time flies.
I received a call today from one of the 'powers that be' over at St. Paul Lutheran, just to tell me the electronic organ they'd been gifted is ready to be played, so I guess that was my subtle encouragement to start playing it during their Service. All I can say is, I'll do it, but I'm not going to like it. I think what I'll do, is play half of their Service on it, and then other half on their piano stationed up in their choir loft.
My late afternoon appointment to show two units over at Prairie Place on 1st went quite well, and in spite of the selling agent telling me several days ago that they're likely six months early before they'll be ready to buy, after getting a good 'feel' of their wants and needs, I won't be surprised if they'll be buying more sooner than later. I personally believe they'll be a welcome addition to that fine community of seniors. Yes, they asked all the right questions, which had me all the more convinced they're going to be purchasing one of them soon.
On my way home, I had to make a quick stop at one of the groceterias, and as chance would have it, I ran into a past client who'd moved to the Village Co-op which is definitely not something I'd move into considering their monthly fees, but anyhoo, we did have a long-overdue visit which definitely brightened my day. She happens to be the one who freely gifted me the most charming mid-century apartment-size stove which I fell in 'like' with, and only because of how well it had been taken care of. Yes, it has a few bad spots on it, but over-all, it's in pretty darned good shape. The most interesting thing about it, are the side panels inside the oven which were made in a fashion where they can be easily removed and cleaned, which I've never before seen in any make or size of oven. I'm still not sure when and where I'll be putting it to good use.
Tonight's One-liner is: Childhood itself is scarcely more lovely than a cheerful, kindly, sunshiny old age.
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