This has been a time of pain, agony and fear. Welcome to Annual Closing. Decades of brutal closings of the books. Ok, some years not so bad. But always working long, long hours. Worrying. Any lurking surprises? Just when you thought you had a successful close, someone would drop something completely unexpected and un-forecast on…
Month: December 2018
December 28th: I can see clearly now
There I was, driving to the courthouse this morning. Not the one in Grand Haven, but one 35 minutes away (this is a big county!). My eyes were so dry. I still have been having a little trouble with my right eye from the Bell’s Palsy… but this was both eyes. Dry, tired, hurting. As…
December 27th: Terrarium Living
Sunny, 80 degrees every day. The perfect life at the perfect beach. For some. For me, I call it terrarium living. Predictable. Boring. Imagine establishing a colony on Mars. You could have one huge dome to keep your sanity and feel like you are on Earth… in nature. Inside that dome you could have one…
December 26th: Effortless mindfulness
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” ― Blaise Pascal Heard from an old coworker today while I was at the brewhouse. What a flashback! Annual closing must be bearing down on them. Tense, painful times almost every year. New Year’s Eve and Day meant work… no joy,…
December 24th: I’ll take the win
Far and away, 2018 has been the best year ever. Yet the one thing missing, always on my mind, has been the book. We have been enjoying life to the maximum in Michigan. But while doing so, my wife completed seventeen “yarn projects”, and has three more underway. Me? I have been getting ready. Reading…
December 19th: What is wrong with this?
If I ever wrote a non fiction book on racism from the historical view of a white guy (me), this would be a “must have” chart in the book. Just not sure what to say. I know Grand Haven always seemed pretty white… but jeez… ONE African-American living in the entire town? This area is…
December 17th: Gold and Red
Yesterday evening our patio fountain was silver in the sunlight, tonight it was gold. And at the beach, the gold became red. Similar, but different. Small joys every day. I did learn one fun fact today about shipwrecks on the great Lakes. It is estimated that 6,000 ships have sunk, with 30,000 lives lost. These…
December 16th: Sunday night and all is well
Our fountain next to the patio sparkled in the late afternoon sun. Regular shots of sunlight have returned, after weeks of heavy overcast. Sunsets across the sky are in full bloom again. Dinner at a creative gastropub (The Paisley Pig… how did we not visit it before this?). The Grand Haven downtown Christmas lights. Every…
December 12th: Cold water high
I had a routine after every basketball practice and game in high school: I would dash to the showers. Our home locker room had six shower heads, all would quickly be spewing steamy hot water. Then, when almost finished, I spun the shower to cold water only. In northwest Iowa, in the winter, cold water…
December 11th: Just what was needed
Our patience was rewarded last night… finally a sunset. Water temperature near the shore is just barely above freezing. We should start getting some exciting ice formations soon. Ice balls? Pancake ice? Soon we shall see. Speaking of pancakes, my wife has been creating blueberry waffles and pancakes for breakfast. Nothing like fresh (frozen) Michigan…