Flowers and Snow all in the same day.

This morning when I walked outside I thought, "It feels like it could rain out here." The air was cold and wet. It wasn't raining yet, but the air had a lot of humidity in it. The feeling wasn't friendly at all, but I truged forward thinking, "it wont be long."

About mid-morning I stopped at the local Kroger grocery store to get cookies and potato chips to go along with the pizza I would be delivering to one of my retailers for lunch. That is when I noticed this:







I thought, "Who in their right mind buys these flowers?" Seriously. First of all, I don't think these flowers are even that pretty. Second of all, how in the world would a person expect to keep them alive long? I mean, it is March. March, for crying out loud. I realize Kroger is not going after the green thumbs of the world here. I assume they want they figure people will buy them on a whim to "brighten the corner where they are," but I have to think that as soon as that flower goes across the mechanical belt at the check out, it will die without the new owner even knowing it. Maybe Kroger wants people to know they can always depend on them to have some flowers. That way, if want to take a live plant to your dentist, you can plan on swinging by Kroger on your way to the root canal.

I went on about my day and as I waited for the pizza while talking on the phone, I stopped the other rep I was talking to mid sentence to say, "Oh my word. It is snowing here." He was down by Cinncinati (two hours away) and he said things were covered in white. Then, facebook went nuts. People all over Ohio were writing about the snow. Pictures showed up of front yards covered in two inches of snow like it was the first snow of the winter. I guess it was equally as exciting because hopefully, it is the last. The thing was, the ground tempature was probably close to 40 degrees, so it was really odd that the snow stuck around like that.

During that time, I got this picture from Seth. I bet that when the driver of the corn planter walks out of the shop and sees this sight, it does not put him in the mood to plant corn.



Then, I drove North of Van Wert this afternoon and some of the farms up there were covered with snow, too. I drove back that way this evening and the snow had all already melted. All throughout these hours, I just couldn't help but think about those poor, little, unlikely-to-be-bought flowers at Kroger and wonder how long they'll last there and if anyone buys them, how long will they last at home?

These boots...

I bought my current pair of work boots at Rural King in Decatur, IN in the fall of 2008 and have worn the heck outta em’. They’re so comfortable and work perfect for what I do. When I first got them, I wore them for both work and out on the town. (Well, as far out on the town as Mercer county takes me.) I’ve had them for about 2.5 years now, and according to my calculations, I’ve paid about seven cents per day to have them. They’ve been worth way more than that.

Since they’re slip on, I put them on a lot when I need to run out to the car for something or take trash out or to dump food to the cats. I also wore them with shorts and high socks when I played the part of a ranger during last year’s bible school at church. I wear them with jeans to work on days when I am looking at fields in the summer and also when I am doing on farm visits with retailers in the winter. I certainly don’t want to forget about wearing them underneath my bridesmaid’s dress for most of the day of my sister’s wedding. That’s what’s nice about a good pair of boots, they keep a person warm and clear of the snow, but work equally well on hot summer days.

Just like my truck, these boots have been a lot of places with me. They’ve been with me to see friends and their families on normal weekend nights. They’ve been with me on a couple of bachelorette parties, which, by the way, is one of my favorite pastimes. They’ve been with me at work when I’ve had what I consider to be big accomplishments and when I have felt pretty discouraged. As often as I wear them, it would literally be safe to say that the right one has pushed the petal for over 60,000 miles of driving. If you look close you can see the difference between the driving shoe and the left boot. I’ve stared at them a time or two when I have tried to think about what to say next. Given that they were my first pair of work boots of my career, I hope they’ve seen some of my most trying days. You know, the days where you learn things that you will carry with you for the rest of your life.

Although these boots are still in good shape, and I plan to continue to use them for the dirty work, I know I need to wear a nicer looking boot for days I am not getting dirty, but need to portray the ability-to-work image. So, this weekend I went back to the same store in Decatur, IN to pick out a new model of these boots. I surveyed the options, although I am one to try new things, I just couldn’t find a pair I liked as well as my current model. So, what did I do? I went ahead and bought another pair of the same darn thing. Don’t they look nice? I think they’ll be worth the seven cents per day over the next couple of years.