Man. I have the summer doldrums like crazy. I think a lot of other people do, too, because our phones haven’t been ringing quite as relentlessly this month. (http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/beginnerscorner/qt/summerdoldrums.htm) Lots of people are taking vacations and don’t want to think about business transactions. Frankly, I don’t blame them. I have ants in the pants to be outside. We’ve had some beautiful days where the thought of snoozing out in a hammock or working in the garden became an ever-present thought. I bought a tree pruner at the hardware store this weekend and I am itching to use it. (I’m like a dude in the hardware store. I could go broke in there if given the chance.) My plants are looking great. The peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes have blooms and small vegetables already. The beans and peas are not far behind. I’m already planning what I want to do for a fall/winter garden and, since that will involve tearing up new ground, I probably will cheat and rent a tiller. That will be a plan to execute in the blinding heat of August, LOL. I saw a bug outside this weekend that I swear looked like something primordial. Like the bug had been around since Jurassic times. I think it was some sort of waterbug that was hanging out by the faucet outside.
I’d like to think this is my quote for the day, perhaps for the entire week: “I think we already crossed the Rubicon when I referred to you as being dressed like Hugh Grant and bodily fluids in the coffee. It's all just gravy from here.” I can’t totally expound on it, but it makes me smile. I went to a friend’s birthday party last week and as I sat there, I thought, “This is what it’s about.” There was a group of us chilling out and enjoying each other’s company. Why does it have to be any more complicated than that? It doesn’t. Instead of wasting time with some person that either I don’t particularly like or respect and/or who doesn’t particularly like or respect me, it’s nice to kick it with likeminded folk. I had lunch with a client a couple of weeks ago and he asked me about my life. We got into a conversation about my long-term goal of having a small scale, sustainable farm and he was like, “Wow. That’s actually really cool.” Yeah, yeah, it is. I’m at an age in my life where I’ve discovered the true importance of compatibility. Meaning what? Meaning people who “go” together in a harmonious way. The botanical definition is: “plant varieties that are able to pollinate each other successfully.” I’ve tried too hard in the past to make friendships and romances work that simply were not meant to. If you have that feeling of “needing to make something work,” it’s probably doomed to fail anyway. Best to let the inevitable split occur and then roll on. My birthday friend’s wife is about to take a cooking class and I have volunteered both to help and to be her guinea pig for recipes—a royal taste tester, if you will. I’m going on vacation later with a truly kick ass group of people who have a lot to offer and lot of productive stuff going on in life. The common word I would use to describe these people is one I would use to describe myself: dynamic. I think about Alec Baldwin’s scene in Glengarry, which he opens by saying, “Let me have your attention for a moment. So you're talking about what? You're talking about... bitching about that sale you shot, some son of a bitch that doesn't want to buy, somebody that doesn't want what you're selling, some broad you're trying to screw and so forth. Let's talk about something important.” Exactly, LOL. These are not people who are pissing and moaning about how life has dealt them one shit hand after another, they are victims of this and that, they are mad at the world, blah blah blah. These are people with something good and interesting to offer and I love it. At my friend’s party, we were talking about hobbies we had and I owned up to being a nerd because my hobbies and interests are kinda old school. None of them judged me or acted like, “Oh, if you aren’t getting tore up from the floor up, you’re a lame ass.” That’s one of the ways I knew I was in the right company. I think I am destined in life to always have a friend named Ron. In the words of my current Ron, "There is always work to do on the farm." And that is so true. In real estate ads when they say "mature trees," what they really need to say is "get ready to prune and saw your ass off, bitches." I wouldn't have it any other way though. It genuinely is a different type of lifestyle choice. Less TV, less ass sitting, less junk food, no GMOs, productive uses of your free time, work that works your whole body and accomplishes a goal, knowing where your food came from because you planted it and tended it.
