Archive for August 2012
Still Waiting
“It only takes one.” That is what our neighbor across the street from us told me the other day. We’ve had a pretty consistent amount of traffic in terms of showings of our house since it went on the market back in late May. But the large majority of the people looking have been unhappy with the fact that the back of our house has no yard space. Since we are on a corner, just beyond the back of our property is the side of our neighbor’s garage.
This most recent comment is a classic example of the feedback we have seen over and over:
The drawback on exterior appeal was the lack of backyard. Even though there’s a community play area, the buyers would like more of their own backyard space for their children. The house showed very well on the main level; kitchen is beautiful.
We are still waiting for that one buyer who doesn’t want to spend time mowing their lawn and who will value the natural landscape that surrounds our home.
Less Fulfilling
Last night I had a moment of discovery while watching NBC’s prime time Olympics broadcast. For those blissfully ignorant of the evening Olympic coverage in the US, it is a mish-mash of each day’s events deemed worthy of replay, presented as if happening live, yet cunningly carved up to allow multiple repetitions of commercial advertisements to be shown throughout.
One complaint being levied toward NBC, by both critics and spectators alike, is about the heavy dosage of self-promotion the network is hoisting upon innocent sports fans, for programs scheduled to air following the games. It was the umpteenth repeat of one of the ads for some program being hyped, that sparked a new insight for me.
The program –some rather stupid looking premise that has a predictable storyline that I expect will fight to achieve weekly topics that fit into the framework– is not one I would watch. I have seen about a half-dozen promotions, multiple times now, and what I discovered was, the result of the repetition brings enough familiarity to make each comic tidbit more interesting. It was enough last night to make me feel some affection for the bit that I have come to know so well, even though my impression of the show is that it looks dumb.
If I saw that scene pass by a single time, at normal broadcast speed (which means, immediately preceded and then followed by some other doofy schtick) it wouldn’t do a thing for me. The way I see it, the repeated presentation of the bit, in the commercials, develops an impression of worthiness.
I don’t mean to belittle those who find such shows entertaining. If my interpretation resonates for anyone other then myself, let it provide some perspective of why one might feel drawn to want to watch these programs after seeing the ads. It may also explain why viewing the entire program when it runs (one time through), can turn out to be less fulfilling than one might have expected it to be.
Soccer Thrills
Oh. My. Gosh. Yesterday’s Olympic soccer match between the US and Canadian women was an incredible competition. Tightly contested, very physical, and subject to some uncharacteristic officiating. I completely empathize with the frustration and anger of the Canadian team and fans. The Canadian goalie being called for taking too much time was a real surprise.
Both teams kept working and getting chances, all the way to the end. It seems to me that the ball could have gone in for either team. The fact that Alex Morgan succeeded at the late, late moment of extra time, already past the 30-minute overtime, was… pick your superlative adjective: remarkable; outstanding; incredible; extraordinary; exceptional; astounding; sensational; unbelievable; amazing; momentous! Or, from another perspective: heartbreaking.
I will savor the moment of Morgan’s touch with her head, and the absolutely perfect arc of the ball, beyond the reach of the Canadian Keeper, into the net. I look forward to the Gold medal match with mixed emotions. My nerves fray at the incredible tension of high stakes soccer matches when US teams are involved, but it is really a thrill to be watching the US team play in the Gold medal game.
I’m going to need to take Thursday afternoon off from work! I hope the US team is able to make it worth my time. I wouldn’t mind if they found a way to not have it come down to the last minute… especially, if they do so by having a lead.
Deserve
.
.
sit back and watch
how it’s done in your mind
when you imagine the scene
where everything’s right
everything is good
greatness unleashed
success all around
listen to that sound
all the words in your head
saying just what you need
to tell yourself what
you always should hear
when you speak to yourself
with that tone of your voice
though silent it is
you hear it all right
it comes through loud
and incredibly clear
so for every good reason
you totally deserve
bring your messages from
that place deep within
that is nothing but love
.
.
Change Happens
Last night was the first time all summer that I have been able to sleep under covers. The dew point dropped, the temperature dropped, the air conditioner was turned off, the windows all opened, and a blissful night commenced. What comfort!
Yesterday, I took the bike for a roll during an afternoon showing of the house. Checking with a neighbor, after I returned, he reported the visitors were there for all of 5 minutes. Guess it didn’t take them long to make up their minds.
I discovered that the shop where I had some work done on my bike, didn’t put as much air in my tires as I usually do. Before I headed out, I topped off the pressure, so during yesterday’s jaunt, I felt much more like my old self on the pedals.
It being the first weekend in August, the local Lion’s Club was hosting their annual corn feed in my town. I pedaled up to the park and around the school to check out the scene and see if there were any familiar faces hanging out. On my mind were thoughts of getting the house sold and moving away from this place where I grew up.
I have been slowly cutting ties to my home town. One early step toward that effort occurred when I stopped paying for the local paper. I no longer see the articles about the goings on in our community. It left me unaware that the park where the corn feed is usually held was under renovation and totally torn up. I found the corn feed activity in the community center parking lot. There wasn’t a soul I recognized.
There were plenty of families, most of them with kids much younger than mine. I realized I should be looking for older faces if I was going to find someone I recognized from my past. I coasted through the softball fields that were filled with the energy of a tournament. It felt alienating to see all these people and activity, but have no connection to any of it.
At the high school, I found a large youth lacrosse tournament in progress. It appeared to include teams from around the state. This sport continues to grow in popularity, but since it wasn’t played when I grew up here, seeing all this added to the alienation I felt.
When my kids were in school, one of the primary activities at the end of summer was the marching band. I was startled to find a full-size semi trailer in the school parking lot, painted with the school colors and identified as the Eagles Marching Band. A little further along, I came across another trailer painted up to identify the marching band, but at least this one was the size I remember seeing used. It used to be plain white. Now they need both trailers!
It feels like seasons are changing to me.
Olympic Wonder
I have been watching as much of the Olympic competition as I can. Most often, that has been by way of recorded replays, due to the day-job. Today I get to see some live coverage, which is making it difficult to write here. I’ve got fencing, soccer, tennis, boxing, and basketball, all on while I’m trying to type. What fun! Just a bit distracting.
Last night, watching swimming and a couple of track events, I began to wonder about the competitors who get nary a mention. I bet they work just as hard to train, back in their home countries. I wonder what they feel, as the faster athletes leave them behind. Just getting to the Olympics is quite an accomplishment, and something to be proud of, but then to find themselves so far from being competitive…
I bet the slowest runners or swimmers of Olympic competition are amazingly fast, compared to the rest of the world. What do they think, when they get left far behind, in Olympic competition?
It’s probably a bad comparison, but I think of the musicians that I find performing at small venues, who are remarkably more accomplished than most people, but will remain virtually invisible to the world, while the greatest performers achieve a following that can be global.
During the Olympics, I will take in all the wonder of the greatest performers on earth, and enjoy the chance to witness the elite succeed on the world stage. As great as they are, I don’t believe their success in any way diminishes the accomplishments of the “also ran” competitors.
Costly Changes?
We have entered the 4th calendar month with our house on the market. The house has received a fair amount of interest, and the majority of feedback has been positive, but there is one feature that has been repeatedly panned: lack of yard. It’s ironic that it ends up being the lack of a yard that has kept people from wanting our house. I have worked to progressively replace the grass on our lot for virtually the entire time we have been here.
To be fair, it isn’t just the changes I have made. A large part of it is that we are on a corner lot, where the back of our property is very short, and abuts the side of our neighbor’s garage. Add to that, the fact I have largely eliminated what little grass there was, and the young families that might be interested in our property don’t see any space for their little ones to play. Space like we had for our kids to crawl, picnic, and play in a sandbox and swing set.
The changes I have made over the years, could turn out to be more costly than I imagined, when I was focusing on burning less gasoline, creating less noise pollution, and reducing the need to water and fertilize in order to keep grass healthy.
That little grass patch is what is left in the front yard by the driveway today.
Not much grass to mow here.
I feel that the landscape around our house is one of the finest features, and not a flaw. I recently pointed this out to our realtor and asked that we market it this way, to let buyers better know, in advance, what they will find, hoping to avoid disappointment. It appears my yearnings to have a different kind of yard have narrowed the field of potential buyers.
I am left with the challenge of needing to find people who sees things the way I do. Uh oh. Is that possible?
For Family
This is a post that will be of particular interest to my brothers and sisters.
There have been three times for me lately, one after the other, where situations have brought to mind our sister and parents who are no longer with us. Each incident was interesting, in and of itself, but the fact that they grabbed my attention in such quick succession, has made it particularly noteworthy for me.
It started last weekend, when I wanted to take my bike out for a ride, after I picked it up from having new parts installed. I had the bike home, but I was completely overcome with exhaustion and felt like I could hardly keep my eyes open. I decided to take a nap. After I woke up, I figured I should eat something to get some fuel in my body, and then headed out on my bike.
The ride was a battle. I felt like I had nothing to give. Was my brake dragging? Were the tires low on air? Am I that out of shape? I don’t know if my siblings remember our sister’s story, but it really made an impression on me, and in that moment of my laboring, my mind went right back to how Linda described feeling, right before she discovered her illness.
She told me how she would try to do her exercise workout and would struggle to get in just a minute or two before she would be exhausted and need to quit. Not yet aware of the health issue she was facing, she described of telling herself she would try again the next day with a goal of doubling that time. We both laughed over the way the mind works: choosing to assume this was just a matter of being out of shape and that a doubling a minute or two of exercise –to reach a goal of maybe 4 minutes– was sound logic, and not any cause for alarm.
As this memory came back to me last weekend, I had a brief feeling of connection with her and renewed empathy for what she experienced.
Just a day or two later, I had some very vivid dreams, many details of which are now fading from my memory. Somehow, members of the Enblom family were involved, and the scenario morphed into a showing of artwork I had created over many years, much of it, pieces I had forgotten having made. More and more people I knew seemed to be appearing, and it was not illogical that Mary and Judy were there, too. One or the other of you had brought Mom along and I remember feeling happy to see her, and thinking I needed to make a point to visit with her, because it had been a while since I had done so.
It never occurred to me, during the dream situation, that Mom was no longer living. That made the transition from dream-state to wakefulness, a bit more significant than usual for me. It was special to have enjoyed the feelings of being in the presence of Mom once again.
Finally, yesterday during my lunch, I was reading the account of Minnesota Vikings’ running back, Adrian Peterson’s scare of a surprise allergic reaction to seafood he ate. I was really young when this happened to our Dad, but each detail I read yesterday seemed to tug me further back into my memories of the time when the ambulance came to our house and then later, our visiting Dad in the hospital.
Linda, Mom, and Dad, one right after the other. Special memories. I’m moved that they all came to visit me in this short span of time.
Relative Something 