Five Experiences of Today

Time once more for

Five Experiences of Today

• Getting a phone call from the local businessman who wants to develop a software application. He calls every nine months or so and once I explain the costs of what he desires, he always says he'll just have his son who "works for Google" do it. I always pleasantly wish him good luck and he hangs up. He doesn't know that his son and I have discussed the matter several times and are in full agreement on what it will cost to build his dream.

• Discovering that at least one of the Honey Dew melons I picked back at the start of October when the weather was turning freezing was edible. Note that I said edible, not necessarily the tastiest. Made a good alternative for breakfast.
  

• Sitting in a community development / community assessment meeting and realizing it is the same gripes and ideas I have heard every year, just a new group vocalizing and planning. But the real key is that I could just serenely smile, since it won't be my problem anymore come next Tuesday.

• Seeing the woman whose husband is deathly ill make the effort to attend the meeting because she feels so passionately about it. Her husband's illness has aged her tremendously, but she is still fighting the battle to ensure a better life and community for all. People like her are what has made the job of mayor so rewarding. (Of course, they are also often the sharpest thorns in the side as well.)

• Meeting the gentleman with the most gorgeous German Shepard / Wolf mix dog I have ever seen as I walked home for the above meeting. The dog was 15 years old and deaf as a stone, but still had that absolute erect carriage and majesty so emblematic of the breed. The owner communicated entirely by hand signals with the dog due to the deafness.

I'll leave you with the lonely Honey Dews trying to ripen in the shop: