Opus 2026-377: The Gleaning

We may be approaching a time in history when the results of being civilized run into the accumulated weakness of the gene pool.

I have always assume kids are dumber because of cultural influences.  As a teacher I could often see the potential that was buried under a gilding of absentee parents and woke educators.  It could have been my imagination.  Maybe the dumbing down we see is the natural result of a society that keeps people alive who would normally have died in the course of growing up.  It would not necessarily be from neglect or euthanasia.  The world is a dangerous place and a child that cannot learn to look both ways or insists on getting out of a moving car would not have lived to grow up in the past.  

You would think we would see that in nature.  You would expect deer would be getting smarter as the dumb ones are turned into road kill.  I don’t see it happening.  At the same time I have heard hunters share that the deer seem to know when hunting season begins and disappear.  There must be many variable for survival in different species, even humans.  

Lions culled the herd.  They did not go after the alpha males.  They dragged down the infirm and weak.  During rutting season the strongest stag drives away weaker rivals and thus keeps the blood line strong.  The world of animals has a way of trying to build strength even without knowing the philosophy behind it.

Microbes do the same.  I have not done the research but I have been told that if you chart the deaths from different diseases the rate gradually declines over time.  This is seemingly true even in modern times with things like polio and measles.  The strong have bodies that fight off the disease, the weak succumb.  Some people sailed through the influenza season like it does not apply to them.  Maybe it doesn’t.
    
It is possible the same thing happens in cultures.  Rome did not fall in a day because the barbarians showed up and stomped them.  They did not forget how to make swords.  What they lost was the desire to use them.  Rome had repeated waves of lunatic, sword swinging illiterates that kept pushing at the gates.  Rome eventually died in a whimper.  Are we facing such a time in our world?  Are the barbarians of the Middle East going to bring down the West?  In the short run I am not an optimist.  In the long run the Christians might wake up and begin to assert themselves again.  If that happens it will be no contest.

We live in exciting times.  That is reported to be part of a Chinese curse.  Whether it came from the Chinese or not it is still a thing of concern.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-376: Water Bottle Dating

For some it is a badge of youth.  For some it is a crutch for an old voice.

The water bottle may be replacing the cigarette as an accoutrements of coolness.  I remember how as I child I would have a candy cigarette hanging from my lip and thought it made me look like Humphrey Bogart.  Now it is a designer label water bottle.  The one from Cosco doesn’t count. 

Old people use them so they can keep talking.  Young people use them so they can pause and stop talking.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-370: A Tip

I am not a big one for eating out.  As a tightwad I resent the cost.  As an American I don’t think people should be waiting on me.  I can refill my own soda, thank you.  I can bus my own table.  I can also do my own cooking as basic as that is.  

However, if I am going out to eat there are certain proprietary actions that I take.  I treat the server like a human being worthy of consideration.  I don’t assume I am superior.  I try not to be too picky on issues that are not perfect.  I also believe that if I get good service, I should tip well.  Even if they are getting a minimum wage they still deserve to be rewarded for extra effort.  It is amazing how tipping well one day will get you even better service the next.  People respond to approval.

If I can’t afford to tip well maybe I should be going to fast food or eating at home.  It is part of the expense of eating out.  It is one reason why this cheap guy would prefer a self-serve place.

Tipping is part of our culture.  Tipping is part of the social contract between us and people who serve us.  It is unspoken and usually not required but it is part of what sets the heart of America apart from those who just want to take and not give.

By all means let your tip reflect the service given.  Don’t be afraid to reduce the amount for poor or sloppy service.  Make sure that you are not the problem.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-365: Identity Crisis

Today, I thought I was going to have to identify as a family . I was at Costco looking for a bathroom.  The only entrance I saw that looked hospitable said family bathroom.  I have never thought of myself as a family but I was getting geared up.

Then I looked a little further down the side corridor and saw signs for the normal choices.  It always pays to take a second look.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-361: The Eternal Millennial

In reading John Adams diary, I came across an interesting spectacle.  He related the same experience two days in a row.

“I spent one evening this week at Billy Belcher’s.  I sat, book in hand, on one side of the fire, while Dr. Wendell, Billy Belcher, and Steven Cleverly, and another young gentleman, sat in silence around the card table all the evening.  Two evenings I spent at Samuel Quincy’s in the same manner.  Doctor Gardiner, Henry Quincy, Ned Quincy and Samuel Quincy, all playing cards the whole evening.  This is the wise and salutary amusement that young gentleman take every evening in this town.  Playing cards, drinking punch and wine, smoking tobacco and swearing, etc., etc., while a hundred of the best books lie on the shelves, desks, and chairs in the same room.  This is not misspense of time; this is a wise and profitable improvement of time – cards and backgammon are fashionable diversions.  I know not how any young fellow can study in this town.  What pleasure can a young gentleman who is capable of thinking, take in playing cards?” p. 62

While they were doing this, at least it seems that the narrative is, Adams was in a corner reading.  I’m not sure if he was reading because they didn’t invite him to play, he didn’t know how to play, they were playing a game involving gambling and money and he had none, or if he was just there because it was the only corner in town that had a good lamp.

Anyway you want to look at it, his comment about his contemporaries was not complementary. When you get down to it, there’s not that much difference between the younger generation of the 18th century and the millennials of the 21st-century.  There is very little about how these young men are earning a living.  Adams himself is always relating how he has dinner with this person, tea with another, and spent an evening in conversation at someone else’s house.  There is never any account of how he himself is generating income to pay for things like this at this point in his life.

That is the depressing news.  The good news is that he went on to become happily married, a pillar of society, a successful lawyer, Founding Father, and the second president of the United States.

May your time wasters be as valuable as his.

Adams, John.  The Works of John Adams, Volume 1.  Norwalk, Connecticut: The Easton Press, 1992.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-343: Words Matter

I continue to contemplate the conflict between Bible statements that seem unconditional at times and other places are clearly conditional.  One of the explanations is the use of figures of speech.  Contemporaries understand them but other times and cultures may not.  What are some examples in modern America of this reality?

Nice to meet you.  Really?  How do you know?
How are you?  Do you really care?
Fine.  Actually your life is falling apart.
It is raining cats and dogs.
I am starving.
I couldn’t eat another bite.
This is the last time I am going to tell you.
Good sermon.
This is the best day ever.

I am sure I could go on.  Others will come to me.  Some of these are polite conventions that we used to be civil.  Others are hyperbole.  Some are total fantasy.  All are clearly understood by the person of average intelligence.  How many of the “forever’s” and “everlasting’s” and “all’s” that we see in the Bible were clearly understood by the people of the day as figures of speech?  One indication is a statement that is impossible or contradicted in another place.  

People tend to be selective in their interpretation.  They have a theological system and they are going to stick with it.  They ignore the built in contradictions.  For instance many people take the repeated promise of the land to Israel as a truly forever thing.  If you disagree they quickly move toward accusations of heresy.  You are denying the clear teaching of scripture.

Those same people will look at this,

(Joh 3:16 KJV)  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

And deny that “whosover” means whosoever.  Why?  Because their theology demands that only the elect, chosen at creation by God, will be saved.  One place they demand literal and when it is clearly literal it become figurative.

I wonder if I amaze other people as much as they amaze me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-321: Cultural Appropriation

There are times when my guilt just sits on my shoulders.  I’m thinking here of wearing a cowboy hat.  I am appropriating the culture because I am not, nor ever have been, a cowboy.

My childhood was full of this atrocity.  I was in the French Foreign Legion.  I was a whole variety of sports stars.  I was the nemesis of Zorro when I wasn’t Zorro himself.  I was a Roman legionnaire.  Pick a culture and I am sure I insulted it somewhere along the line.  

I was a terrible person.

We used to call this creativity or imagination.  It was a sign of a well balanced, happy childhood.  Now it is a sign of evil.

I will not ask for your forgiveness.  It isn’t necessary.  You are the one who need mercy for your shriveled little world.  I will continue to enjoy Mexican food, Italian food and even Mediterranean cuisine.  I will however draw the line at pickled pigs feet.  I am not sure what culture claims them.  I tried them once at the behest of a pastor with a Mexican heritage.  Never again.  You can stick to your cultural background.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-305: The Beauty Facade

You are familiar with the cliches, “Beauty is only skin deep;” “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder;” “Beauty is as beauty does.”  They all apply.  I would add “Beauty has a time clock;” and maybe “True beauty can overcome superficial ugly;” “Beauty is a first impression that can go bad.”

I was watching some click bait of Anton Daniels.  You may have seen the video he was commenting on.  It has a young woman strutting across the stage at graduation, doing the “splits” and wiggling her butt at the audience and walking off, only to be denied her diploma.  In the wide variety of displays that you would see at graduations today I don’t see what the big issue was.  Respect and dignity are words that the younger generation does not understand and the adults in their lives don’t seem to have tried to teach them.

What really caused me to think was Daniels describing the young lady as attractive.  I am not here to argue with his observation.  I am here to ask what makes someone attractive?  In her case you could look at her regular features, well done make-up and flowing hair.  Those painted an attractive picture that was only flawed by her whining attitude.  The major aspect of beauty though, was her youth.  Often when I see a young attractive woman I try to imagine what they will look like at 50.  The results of my imagination are not pleasant.

I remember falling in love in 7th grade.  It was like that song, “Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer.”  One glance was all it took.  I was in love until I graduated from high school.  I thought she was awesome.  I never spoke to her.  She did not know I existed.  That had nothing to do with my star-struck status.  What I find really amusing was looking at my yearbook years later and wondering what it was I thought was so attractive.

Probably the most accurate of my opening cliches was, “Beauty has a time clock.”  There are two initial points to that.  First, we see a vision of loveliness and are struck speechless.  We are in awe at the initial picture, but the clock keeps ticking.  She may smile and show teeth that ruin the picture.  We may get close enough to see the heavy make-up.  Tattoos may make an appearance.  There are many ways in which time can downgrade the image.

The second point is the beauty of youth.  The young woman mentioned above had youth going for her.  There is something about the freshness of that time in life that is very attractive.  Sometimes it develops and delivers on its promise.  Too often it quickly fades.  I remember one 7th grade girl in my class who was truly beautiful.  It was a nature thing and obvious to anyone who saw her.  Her family moved and she went to another school.  About a year later she came back to visit and the transformation was jaw dropping.  She had gained some serious poundage.  Her complexion had gone the way of a teenager who eats too much chocolate.  The clock had done its job.

We also have cultural norms of beauty.  I remember seeing some paintings done by local Africans after they met Europeans for the first time.  The differences were exaggerated to the point where even I thought we were ugly.  Of greatest note were the long, straight noses on the faces.  It clashed with local standards.  We see this today in women getting silicone butt implants and shaving hairlines.  I remember talking to a Latina teacher that I got on well with and asked her if Latino men liked their women pleasantly plump.  It did not take her long to agree.

Ultimately the best type of beauty is that which comes from within.  I think we all know people who would never win a beauty pageant based on photographs but who radiate so much charm, warmth and general charisma that we never think about the shape of their nose.  We also know people who check all the physical boxes but we would not want to be on the same bus with them, let alone a desert island.  

Don’t get me wrong.  I plan on continuing to comb what hair I have left and wearing clean clothes.  More important I will try to develop my courtesy and kindness.  That is the real challenge.

Was that an “Amen” I heard?

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-303: Dulling Down as We Dumb Down

I think the subject got started with one of those questions of, “What color car will you want when you are able to drive?”  My granddaughter is only 8 and he father says she cannot date until she is 30 so I don’t know what the point of the discussion was, but she got excited when I mention cars used to come with more than one color of paint.  I never saw anyone get excited before about the idea of two-toned cars.

Life used to have a lot more variety.  Look at the cars coming down the road.  If you took out the black, white and silver there would be plenty of room to drive.  Think about all the sizes of notebook paper you used to be able to choose from.  Remember when shirts came in more than s,m,l and xl?  Remember picking your sleeve length?

It is called progress.  Most items disappear without a whimper.  Others require pages of comment.  They still disappear.  

If you want to see the ultimate expression of this go to East Berlin.  I don’t know if they have learned about colors yet but the city literally looked like a black and white film when I was there before the wall came down.  Socialism produces a drab world.  Government regulation and tax policy destroys competition and choices.  Some unelected administrator decides what choices you should have.  It is like Henry Ford has returned and is again saying, “You can have any color car you want as long as it’s black.”

That is one aspect of Utopia that we don’t think about.  There will always be a color or size that someone has decided it best and that will be the only choice you have.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-292: Thanks for the Silent Majority

I am going to divide government employees into three categories today.  I imagine there are many more and various ways to break them down but this is what I am looking at right now.  I do not have any recent experiences to stimulate this train of thought.  It just kind of emerged.

I am thinking of dividing government employees into workers, drones and queens.  Honey bees have my apologies for the comparison.

I think the largest group of government employees are the workers.  These are those usually unnoticed men and women who show up for work on time and do their job.  We don’t notice them because when they do their job there is no reason to notice them.  I know they exist because much of what I expect to happen just happens.  When I renew my driver’s license, it arrives.  When the electricity goes out, it comes on again.  Just because we run into that clerk who has it in for us does not mean that others are not doing their best and if this was not the largest group much of what we take for granted would cease.

Then you have the drones.  When they are in a back office the work seems to find a way around them because they don’t earn their paycheck.  When they are in contact with the public they make us want to join the revolution.  You have all been there.  You can see the piece of paper they need to get you on your way but they won’t turn around and look for it.  They keep quoting a non-existent regulation or mis-interpreting the rules because they get more joy out of your frustration that a job well done.

The third group is small.  It is a blessing that they are rare.  These are the ones who are really motivated because they literally get joy out of making you miserable.  It gives their petty existence meaning to stop you cold.  In too many cases they will actually go out of their way to be violent or betray the trust placed in them.

If this last type were really common we would all be living in chaos.  As it is the disasters seem to be rare enough that most of us don’t need to worry.  If you can, report them.  If they are reachable, vote them out.  Make sure that you don’t join them because much of our safety is in numbers.

And be thankful for the ones faithfully doing their job.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-283: Embrace Your Inner Utopia

When people criticize the United States or someone like Donald Trump they always get into this trap of comparing reality to fantasy.  Utopia is a wonderful concept.  People who push socialism and think that this time socialism will work have this mind blowing fantasy that there is such a thing as a perfect society in which everybody only takes what they need and always gives what they can.  These people leave candy on the porch during Halloween with a sign that says, “Just take one.”  Such a world does not exist.  Such a world has never existed.  Such a world will never exist until we get to the point of eternal life.  Even there, I’m wondering how God is going to make that work.

That being said, utopia is a concept that we should strive for and work towards.  The place to begin the March to utopia is not at the ballot box.  It is not in Washington DC or your state government.  The place that utopia will begin, at least the seeds of it could be planted, is within each and every individual who is committed to making themselves fit for utopia.  Again, it’s an empty hope.  People being born sinners means that they will never achieve that kind of perfection, however, it is a worthy goal to have.

When you are faced with a choice of pointing out to the cashier that they gave you too much change, are you preparing for utopia or reinforcing the reality of our fallen society.  When you park your car, do you take two spaces instead of one?  Do you return your shopping cart?  Have you ever borrowed somebody’s handicap placard when you’re going to an event that you expect to be crowded?

I think you get the idea.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-258: Inner City Solutions

I recently experimented with a podcast by Anton Daniels called the “Morning Millionaire”.   He was commenting on the decision of Walgreen’s to close one of their stores in Chicago and the response of the community.

Daniels was showing and commenting on a press conference in front of the store that was closing.  It had a bunch of respectable looking, middle class type people holding professionally printed signs and a local city alderman was at the microphone.  He was going on with typical socialist talking points.  At one place he declared closing the store was a “first degree commercial crime.”  Daniels asked what that was.  It was obvious that none of the people in the choir were the kind who would be stealing and attacking.  They did represent though, the kind of people who raised the ones who were stealing and attacking and seemed to not be willing to do anything about the crime.  The solution was attack the rich.  I am not sure you can force someone to keep a business open.

There a a lot of ways to solve the problem.

First, get serious about the culture of the neighborhood.  Here was a large store, part of a nation wide chain that probably had a full time security presence and locks on much of the merchandise.  In spite of that the store could not keep its employees safe nor stop the pilfering.  They probably had a hard time getting qualified people willing to work in those conditions and found it impossible to make a profit because the residents of the community, who were protesting the closing, were stealing so much.  If the parents and grandparents in the area did not look the other way when their offspring went on a theft spree then the problem could be solved.  

It didn’t happen and it is not going to happen.

So the store closes.  What do we do about the loss of a pharmacy?  Daniels suggested that the people of the area get together and open their own store.  If it is so simple, do it yourselves.  He did not seem to expect that to happen.

I think one of the ways to deal with the needs of the shut-in and elderly is for the churches of the community to step up to the plate and begin being the church.  If this is like many urban areas there are churches of all sizes located everywhere.  Some are just houses with a sign.  Some are old mainline congregations.  What a marvelous opportunity to reach out to others.  It would not take a lot of organization or money to get people in the pews to stop by a shut-in’s house, pick up the prescription and have it filled.  In fact, in this internet age, the doctor calls in the perscription and just about anyone who know the birthday of the patient can pick it up for them.  I know because I have done it.

Are you part of a denomination wanting to reach the inner city?  Here is an open door to both meet real needs and present physical evidence of the love that you proclaim you have for people.  Let the cure begin.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-245: Moderate Is Not a Synonym for Reasonable

I picked up a discussion where Douglas Murray was reviewing the problems presented by Islam as it invades the west.  Generally he makes sense but he lost me when he uttered the popular canard saying that most Muslims are peaceful.  That is similar to saying that most Germans were peaceful in 1943 because they were not in the army.  It is like Christians who acknowledge that evil trash that comes from Disney but they still buy Disney products that they consider clean.  In so doing they subsidize the attempts that Disney makes at destroying the culture.

Moderation often means just not wanting to take a stand or make waves.  A moderate Muslim is like a moderate Democrat or a moderate Christian.  Moderate Democrats continue to vote for people who are pushing abortion, sex change operations, drap queens reading to children in libraries and just about any other vulgar activity.  Moderate Christians often endorse the same activities.

We need to stop being moderate.  Courteous, yes.  Polite, usually.  Willing to listen and engage in discussion, always.  That being said we need to be very clear about where we stand.  It is easy to let people think we agree with them by saying nothing.  Say something.  Make it the truth.  Stick to your guns. 

Your grandchildren will thank you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-233: Monday Pulpit: Honor System

Sunday in my regular reading schedule I came across this verse and wrote about it for a future post on my devotional blog,

Proverbs 10:9 (KJV) He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.

My point was that we need to live in such a way that people trust us.  Then I read this as Josiah is getting serious about getting the temple back in shape,

2 Kings 22:7 (KJV) Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.

Coincidence?  Sure, why not?  Strange though.

Here in the OT we have an example of what I was thinking about.  Was this originally a preaching point for NT Christians?  I doubt it.  It was an observation that there were people of honor in ancient Israel.  At the same time the Holy Spirit uses things we read to teach us lessons, encourage us, clarify things, in short, whatever we need.

We need to be reminded of what Christian culture should look like.  I can remember when your word was your bond.  I can remember when contracts were sealed with a handshake instead of multiple pages of legalese.  I can remember never locking the house.  That was a culture based on the Bible and having an expectation that people would walk uprightly.

Pray for those days to return.  Live in such a way that your corner of the world embraces that moral standard.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-213: In Which I Am Put in My Place

It isn’t really Click Bait but it comes close. You may have your kids bring in the mail and instruct them to throw out the junk. I am the kid in our house. If you ever look through it you will find a packet of coupons on a regular basis. They come in different formats. Some are in a big envelope. Others come wrapped in clear plastic. The contents are a form of analog click bait. Every once in awhile I am bored enough to leaf through them. I am rarely disappointed, none of it interests me.

That does not mean I cannot be taken for granted or insulted. As I went through the pile I noticed one with a bunch of names on it announcing something called I-Heart Country Festival. On it were listed eleven names. I did not even get a glimmer of recognition for any of them. I assume they are some level of country music artists. It was good to know that I could get tickets from ticketmaster so they must be legit.

I am aware that I am not cutting edge in current culture. As a rule, that does not bother me. I have a saying that I made up for use with the eighth graders I used to teach, “Being the deepest puddle on the sidewalk is nothing to brag about.” At the same time I used to at least recognize the names of the rich and famous.

Do I need to expand my world? Nah. My corner is just fine.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-197: Pass the Potatoes, Please

As I was contemplating the prosperity and wealth that we have, I offered up a prayer of thanks for the previous generations who worked hard to build this country. My thinking was stimulated by a piece of road-working equipment parked on our street in preparation for some resurfacing . It has been sitting there waiting for at least a week, inactive and gathering dust. I would probably need to refinance my house if I wanted to buy such a machine but it just sits there patiently.

Have I done my share to pass on the torch of prosperity? I have not built any railroads. I have not invented any great gadgets or processes. I have discovered no new lands or mineral deposits. What have I done?

I guess we should understand that the thousands of men who worked to build the transcontinental railroad did not see it as establishing wealth for future generations. They were simply earning a living. What built the greatness, in addition of course to the blessings of God, was the simple process of believing certain truths and passing them on to their children. The basic values of Christianity were assumed to be of value. They may have been rejected on a personal level but were assumed for society. Thus you may have had an affair with your neighbor’s wife but you acknowledged that adultery was wrong.

We are at a time when those of us who still have a sense of right and wrong built on eternal truths need to get back in the business of being squeaky wheels. We should have passed on such concepts as honesty and hard work to our children. It needed to be done in deed as well as word. I seems that many have abandoned those standards which means that we need to be even more squeaky.

Look for opportunities to pass on the torch of Western civilization. You don’t know what that torch looks like? Get a Bible and start to read it. You may not accept the idea that Jesus is Lord but the principles that are laid down apply to everyone where they believe or not. The workers on Ford’s assembly lines were not doing it for you but they supplied the inexpensive transportation that transformed a continent.

Be a torch passer.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-182: The Value of Slow

I had an observation this morning.  I am not sure if it is accurate but it appeals to my sense of the world.  Invasive species tend to grow quicker than the local variety.

The example I have in mind is the comparison of cypress and oaks.  In my part of Texas the cypress pop up everywhere and soak up the water.  The oaks take years to develop.  I have yet to meet anyone who revels in the cypress but most people like the oaks.

Slow growth gives strength.  Compare a cottonwood to a white oak.  The slower growth delivers a strength that the other could only dream of.  If you want a quick wind break, plant cottonwoods.  If you want endurance and can hang around for a generation then go with the oaks.

Dandelions grow faster than roses.  I guess that you might consider the roses the invaders so that runs counter to my theory.

When you look at our society and the people that seem to multiply you can apply the same principle.  The spread is greater when the pollution is not dealt with.  Homelessness, aka vagrants, are rampant in the cities that do nothing to make it an unpleasant choice.  Drugs spread like weeds on a windy day.

The price for a livable community is constant vigilance.  We need to set high standards and enforce them.  If we don’t we will continue to see volunteer trees growing up through the foundations of our world.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-174: On the Street: Reflections of Driving Style

I wonder how a person’s personality is revealed in their driving style.

I know that usually what we are experiencing at the moment stands out to us as being unusual.  Having said that, it seems to me that quite frequently when people are very quick to pull out in front of me as I’m driving down the road they end up being afraid to drive the speed limit once they’re in place.  I know you’ve had the experience.  You’re driving along in a 55 mile an hour zone, the road is clear in front of you.  A car pulls up to the cross street.  Instead of waiting for you to go by even though there’s no one behind you, they will immediately pull out in front of you as if they’re in a hurry to get to the hospital.  You jam on your brakes.  You slow down.  You watch to see if they will accelerate so you can keep moving, but alas and lack, they don’t seem to realize it’s a 55 mile an hour zone.  So they cruise along at 45 maybe 50 if they’re in a good mood.

Now I wonder if there is a sense of arrogance and self-centeredness, which is at work here or it just that they are day dreaming.  They’re very willing to pull out in front of you because they seem to think they’re more important than you are.  Then they’re very willing to drive very slow because that’s the speed they want to drive that and they wouldn’t care less if there’s anybody behind them.  Does this reflect itself in their personal relationships?

I wonder if these are the people who take up two parking spaces so their car doesn’t get scratched.  I wonder if they’re the ones who idle blocking traffic in the parking lot waiting for someone to come out and get in their car and move it so that they don’t have to walk very far.  I wonder if they are the ones who pull up in front of the entrance to the grocery store and sit there idling until someone eventually comes out.  Or extend that to the airport where they stopped in the Loading Zone Only and wait for the person to get off the plane and come out.  They could be the one who takes a full shopping cart into the 10 items or less aisle at the grocery store.  There are many applications in this personality type.

They might be the nicest person you ever met, I have no way of knowing.  Or they could be one of the most self-centered people that you’ve ever experienced.  Maybe we need a scientific study for this.  Anybody want to write a grant? 

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-157: The Blues

We all know about the epidemic of blue cities, but we tend to think of big cities when it comes to the blue color.  Unfortunately, even the midsize cities are becoming metropolitan areas.  You pretty much have to move far out of town to get away from the crazies.

Part of the epidemic is in the new developments, all of which seemed to have HOA organizations.  I have yet to find anybody that really likes them and yet they are prevalent everywhere.  Most people that don’t like them tend to live in areas where they appreciate the benefit, but they get irritated when it comes down on themselves.  They want to live in a place where there are no people running businesses out of their garage with all kinds of people parking in front and coming in to buy things.  They want to live in neighborhoods where people are not allowed to park their broken down cars on the front lawn.  They want people to be required to keep their yards mowed.  The problem comes when you’re the one who doesn’t want to mow your lawn, has old cars, or wants to run a business.  Then the HOA is interfering with your freedom.

You can’t have it both ways.  In reality, it seems to me that HOA’s are the most basic form of democracy that exists.  That statement is made recognizing that democracy tend to lead to tyranny.  We deliberately bought in a location that didn’t have one and yet my wife has already been agitating because a guy down the hill is running a business out of his yard.  We don’t want county or city regulations and inspections on what we build or how we live.  At the same time she has been upset that somebody down the hill is not finishing their house as quickly as they should, and there are piles of materials all over the place.

Again, I repeat, you can’t have it both ways.  If you live in an area that has an HOA and you don’t like what’s happening then I would suggest getting involved.  Get elected to the board.  Make the changes that need to be done.  Get put in charge of offering citations for violations of the Doctrines and Covenants.  Become the tyrant that everyone complains about.  At that level, you probably don’t have much reason to gripe if you don’t like how things are being done.

Where we are, quit griping and let people live their lives unless they decide to park their car in your yard or their trash is blowing into your flowerbeds.  You don’t really have much to say. 

Make Daniel Boone proud.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-155: Daniel Boone Moment

I’m beginning to think that we may need to follow the example of Daniel Boone.  If you aren’t familiar with the folk tale, every time somebody moved in within a few miles of him, he felt like the neighborhood was getting crowded and he wanted to move west.  We live in the Hill Country of Texas.  When we moved in, there were a fair number of empty lots and most people have been there a while.  It felt very country.  Things are changing.  I don’t think there are any empty lots left.  The light pollution from quarries and such in the area are making it where you can hardly see stars at night.  We have a business being built at the entrance.  The housing developments are going on all around us.  So far they manage to keep them disguised by not cutting all the trees down but when you look at an aerial map, you can see the huge complexes that are already there and others that are being planned.

What’s the man to do?  Is it time to move?  Is there any place that we can move that has running water and electricity that is not crowded by the peasants of the world?

Of course, they probably say the same things about me.

homo unius libri