Friday, July 25, 2014



As I headed out on my morning walk a couple of days ago, I came across these tracks on the apron of a neighbor's garage. These appear to be the result of a walk through dew wet grass and a sandy flower bed. The evidence suggested that the nocturnal visitor had been able to raise the garage door just enough in order to slip under and gain access to garbage that was stored inside. I trust there was an enjoyable snack to be had in return for the bruin's effort and ingenuity. Good handwashing technique and regular practice are apparently not in this fella's repertoire.

I apologize for not including something in the frame that would indicate the size of the print. I am impressed with how human these prints appear. They seem so much like a toddler's foot print. Trust me! It would have been taken a pretty big toddler to make these prints. Or possibly a young Sasquatch. I should start making a few calls; maybe I could end up on tv with the Big Foot hunters.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

I am not sure if I should be intimidated or flattered. The house two doors away went up for sale in recent days. The asking price is $498,500. When determining value of a house, the most often asked question is what are other properties in the immediate area going for. The house across the street in the other direction recently sold. It had an asking price of just under $80,000. Does that mean that my house, since it rests in some geographical midpoint between these two properties, is properly valued somewhere along the $418,000 continuum between 80K and 498K? I would like to see an agent arrive at some average and be able to provide reasonable supporting rationale. I propose an alternate pricing strategy: something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Maybe in place of posting an asking price, when listing property, one could simply advertise "Best Offer."

Real estate pricing is not my only cause for confusion this Sunday morning. The sermon at this morning's service addressed the concept of evil. I was left with a very confused picture as to the description of evil, the contemporary examples of evil offered, our inability to determine what is evil in real time, and the personal moral responsibility of the so-called evil-doer. There was one take-a-way. I am not able to use the rationalization: "The devil made me do it." Although in the final judgment, Someone else may determine that the malevolent spirit, in fact, did just that.

So, in the final result, I am left either flattered or intimidated. I may flatter myself with some, albeit limited, assurance that I have at least one out. Or I can be intimidated by the awareness that I have only one out. What's your best offer?