Winter wonderland

11/25/07 Sunday
So far it’s been a fantastic morning as far as my cognizance goes. I’ve been running a strong nine out of ten on the bob scale. How I wish I could stay this way. Sunday school was…well I was sharp so everything was good. The lesson was on the last part of Mathew covering the death and resurrection. I had to stop myself from answering all the questions the teacher asks to get everyone involved. I didn’t need to have my bible open to answer. There was so much I wanted to say but it wasn’t my place so restrained myself.









Wally, Dave, and I stayed after and talked about what can be done for Chuck and Lillian. There is a need for leadership in this as there is in any situation. I want to jump in and do so but can’t depend on myself to stay sharp or follow through. It is real frustrating to not trust yourself. How I want to just be healed and remain at the level of cognizance I am currently enjoying. Every year I am a bit better so perhaps I’ll get there. I’ve said many times before that I would gladly live in a wheelchair in exchange for a sharp mind. I’m not kidding.





Anyway, Cherie and I need to go visit with Chuck and Lillian. I need to get measurements on the house so we can determine the amount of materials needed for the roof. One of the things Wally suggested was to break this whole thing up into individual segments like the roof, then siding, and whatever else. That is the best way to approach it. The thought of getting a team of folks together to provide the labor is one I would like to push simply because I believe that physical participation is the best way to do this. Not for Chuck and Lillian as much as for the participants. There is a blessing that comes from getting your hands dirty and being up close and personal with giving. It is easy to just give money and keep a distance and for some that is the best they can do, but to be close to the ones you are helping really helps you understand and reach out more effectively.

It was beautiful this morning with how the snow built up on everything. I can’t help it but I love the snow, at least on this level. I don’t love some of the danger or discomfort it can cause others and it’s a pain sometimes but I see beauty here. The snow is melting rapidly and will be gone before the days end. Here today and gone tomorrow. It’s a muddy mess now and so are the puppies. In this weather they are kept in the puppy room or at least the kitchen area till they dry off.

Here they are on the couch. Little buggers snuck up there and made themselves comfortable.

I am looking forward to what this moisture will do for the four hundred and fifty pounds of rye seed I’ve got out. The parts I had been watering with the sprinklers were sprouting when the snow came but that is only a tenth of what is out there. It will be so cool to have a sea of green out here. How I look forward to building this farm and the rye is only a first step.

For those of you who haven’t been here for a while or are new readers the rye grain is to fight off the weeds that have been growing here thirty years. In the spring I will till it under on the spots where I will be planting vegetables and whatever else, thus making fertile mulched bed rows. In the isles in between the rows I will roll the rye down flat. This will kill it and leave a ground cover that will inhibit further weed growth.

Somehow I’ve got to figure out how to harvest the rye grain. It’s not like I can use a regular harvester like they use on wheat and rye because there is only five acres and I’ll only be able to harvest a portion of that. I need to go online and research that. Perhaps I can build something. There was a mention of making one out of a lawnmower I saw somewhere. I like these challenges. I would be pretty bored without them and it is these things that make life interesting and perhaps even fun.



This is where my offices for two of my companies, Westbrook Marketing and Corporate Liquidation, were.


As we were leaving church Wally asked how we were doing. That launched me as I am prone to do when sharp. I talked about building this farm and how I was trying to get a tractor. I don’t think he could get a word in edgewise as I ran down my plans and ambitions. I can’t help it as I am passionate about achieving this goal, about building not just the farm but the life that goes with it. I am motivated by many aspects of this. I want to stand on my own two feet. I don’t want the stigma, that I suspect some have, of being on disability and perhaps of using or abusing that.
The remains of what had one time been my 8,000 square foot woodshop in my warehouse. It was pretty much picked through while I was in a coma and for the year it took me to get back to Toledo. I had sold most of the equipment before the accident


I want to take back the destruction the drugs and alcohol caused when I demolished everything I had accomplished at one time. That was a lot. There were three companies that had employed a total of 127 people during one year that I had started from scratch. A reputation, something you can’t put a price on or buy, of being an astute businessman with integrity. The nice house in Michigan and second marriage I don’t really care about, only the two sons I raised and there I have great sorrow. I also destroyed the thin window of opportunity I had to restore a relationship with my father, a relationship I never really had my entire life. Perhaps if I do something with this place he will talk to me. Just once would be nice.

I love this tree. It is the lone survivor of the trees that had one time made up my grandmother's orchard. I've been taking pictures of it for over a year now in all sorts of conditions. One of these days I'll put together an album of just this tree


I am slowing down now. Tired as I usually am in the middle of the day and have the ringing ears dizzy feel that is often a precursor to a partial seizure. It was a good run though. Been up and sharp since four this morning so that makes twelve hours as it is 3:50 now. I will post and lay down.