Saturday, November 28, 2015

The Back Yard


Here's the backyard currently.  A relatively productive bell pepper patch in the middle of a lawn.  My goal for this year is to increase the number of plants, and add an outdoor deck/theater/planetarium/...

Friday, November 27, 2015

No Harvest this Christmas

I have done a poor job of saving and planning in 2015.  My desire is to go out and spend lots of money on the gifts for my family and friends, like always.  Every other year I have done so.  Standing in a field of winter grass I feel at ease with giving.  Of course, I run into problems.

First, I am almost never happy with the gifts that I give (which mostly amount to money).  There is the immediate gift of food or fun which lasts for the day.  Then there is the kind of gift that will be there for years to follow, and be useful.  I often spend too much on the former because I am unable to determine, or afford the latter.

Second, I am often running on fumes when the bills of the new year come due.  I stand there on the dirt in the same position I was 12 months earlier.  Knowing that I will not be able to provide any better Christmas that year.

Therefore, I have decided to spend less money on Christmas this year, and increase the amount of time I spend on gifts.  Of course, I cannot post what I am working on here (in case someone looks); however, after Christmas I will be posting some of what I've done this year.

One thing I am trying is buying empty boxes and spending the month filling them.


Winter Grass

Sometimes in early winter, grass will sprout and the yard will look like its getting greener, but this is false.  The winter grass will be gone before spring, and the dirt will be back.  I've fallen victim to this winter grass in the form of money and success time and again.  Life can start to look pretty good, but then the season changes and all that green is gone and you're back to dirt again.

Right now I'm looking at winter grass all around me.  I know that it will soon be gone, and I should not let it distract me from the hard work I need to do in order to get the real seeds to take root and grow.  This blog is going to be my progress report to myself.  Perhaps it will be inspiring to others as well.