I have been doing more reading than writing. I admit it. I have been remiss at posting my thoughts about life. But, it is not that I do not have thoughts. Debbie and I have been busy with other things.

Debbie and I have been doing lots and lots of stuff lately. We have been looking at houses and came very close to buying one about a week or so ago but that started us to think seriously about what that would actually mean. So I suspect, I don’t suspect I actually know that’s going to take a lot of thinking and concern and worry and time discerning and considering various things in our lives.

Today, I decided to take a walk. Cardio-rehab is over officially. Walking takes a lot of time and there’s hardly any way to write while I am walking, so today, I am walking and talking to my phone into the handy Notes app I have on my portable communication device we call a smart phone.

A distraction – ( Look this way, lady, thank you. ) People ride on flat park trails with battery bikes. Not too sure why they do that. Seems like especially a flat trail like this that I like to walk, they would be better off with a regular bike. I decided to walk today to get myself in winter mode and I think that means walking. So 2 miles at least today, and then a couple miles in the day or 2. If I keep on doing that, maybe I can get myself back up to the 5 miles I used to do.

This park is full of wildlife and natural plants (not gardens) that live in Ohio and a couple little places where you can veer off into the woods. It’s nice and shady. It’s about 85-88° out the day, so it is awfully warm for October 1st. But what the heck of a good day for a walk. In addition to wildlife, there’s people riding bikes. There’s people riding in line skates. There are couple of old men like me, just walking around. There are a couple other old men who are still or jogging around – they’re pretty gutsy people (wearing knee braces). I don’t think I would do that, but here and there are benches. Where I’m sitting, the river’s probably 50 yd away, it bends around this little slip of land sticking out here if I walk down through the woods. Sun would be shining in my face and it would be pretty crappy fishing, but who can tell. Maybe there are bass in there too.

Anyway , it’s a good day to be out.

This evening, Debbie and I are gonna meet up somewhere and have dinner. But we’re also going to look at a house in Pleasant Ridge. It seems to be our new form of entertainment. If we can find a open house, we go look at it. This particular house is pretty expensive for Pleasant Ridge.

But then I’m an old guy, so I can remember when the 2 houses I bought years ago were like; less than $20,000, ($20,000 in 1973 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $150,891.89 today) and then later on less than $60,000.($57,000 in 1980 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $231,721.60) it is hard to find a house anywhere priced below $300,000. So these days, less than half a million is a good deal. Demand is a remarkable inflater of prices not value.

I don’t know. I’m just not convinced that housing prices should be that high.

I spent a lot of time this morning listening to one of my favorite lecturers or maybe my new favorite lecturer, Robert Reich, he teaches it U C Berkeley campus. Anyway, he was talking about Wealth and Poverty. And that’s intermingled with a whole lot of people’s opinions or ideas about how to make it in the world these days, we’re still clinging to that that Idea that, if you work hard and keep your nose clean, you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and become rich. I have lived 77 years, I’m not, really not, convinced that’s true. I think you can do pretty well. I think it does make a big difference whether you have a college education or not. I think post secondary education always helps you.

I am writing this by talking to my phone. I have only one half a mile to go.

Carpe Diem