THREW Mikes EyEz

Original Writings, Images, Video and Artworks of Mike Hartley

Rethink it

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There is nothing wrong with rethinking things. As long as you don’t spend your whole life doing it and not acting. For instance, a decade back I thought about writing a book or two or three. I rethought that and decided on blogging for a while to maybe find my writing way first. I’ve been at that for 7 years here and I enjoy it so I’m not going to stop writing in this type of way anytime soon. Plus as you probably have noticed I could use a lot more practice and polish.

But I have rethought the idea of working on books again. This is something I envisioned doing long ago and my mindset was that I had a lot of things I wanted to share with my children that I hadn’t communicated. I got scared because it was just after my first bout with cancer and realized I wasn’t invincible anymore. And I did get to work on it for several months in a part-time way, but then my perspective changed again and I wanted to spend more time with them and people, and writing well can take some time.

Now I’m going to attempt to do both because I started to read what I started to assemble a long time ago. Not sure how I will manage it but if you don’t try you don’t know what you can and can’t do.

Another thing I had to rethink today was how to spend some of my time. I got up early to shovel. I had just about completed my driveway when the trash truck was coming down the street. He slowed and stopped at the house before us and just parked it there and the two guys walked down the street, got the cans and brought them back up, and emptied and returned. The hill beyond me gets very steep. They tried to back the truck up but for every 2 feet, they moved they slid down 3 feet more. I went over with my shovel and handed it to one guy and said I’ll get two more so we all can try to clear some road to get some grip. We tried for 20 minutes and were making progress in inches.

Truck tracks. Photo by Mike Hartley

I then thought about some gravel I have out back so I got the other two guys and we each got a scoop and got some momentum built up and he made it up the street in reverse. I went back in and got my camera with the thought of taking a walk and capturing some snow shots. The first one I took was the spot he was stuck in. Low and behold I crest the hill and there is the trash truck stuck again trying to turn around to get out of the neighborhood.

Snow and ice don’t care how big and bad you are. Photo by Mike Hartley

So instead of taking pictures round two started. Thankfully a county snow plow came in and help out with some clearing on the other side of the truck and some sand till he got straightened out.

It’s always nice to have the right tool for the job when you need it. Photo by Mike Hartley

So a tip of the hat to the county, state and federal employees out and about in all weather all year who provide our essential services.

I know I missed a chance to get some good images but I didn’t mind taking some time to help these guys. Better to help your fellow man than leave them stranded.

Shelter from the storm. Photo by Mike Hartley

Random Thoughts of the Day

  • Today I was given some news that gave me great relief.
  • Tomorrow I’m going to dress up. I’m putting on my best sweatsuit.
  • Today I was given some news that made me very sad.
  • My Son’s first dog has a licker problem. She just loves to give face kisses. I’ve noticed she has been depressed since everyone started wearing masks.
  • OK, I’m tired of winter. If you wouldn’t mind hitting the off switch Mother Nature, it would be greatly appreciated.

Author: Mike Hartley

With a lifetime and a half in the Newspaper industry I'm preparing for my retirement career as an Artist, Writer, Photographer and Video content provider. I'm a proud father of two wonderful children and I'm still married to the first girl I fell in love with and probably only one that would have me.

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