9/17/2019
A good gauge to Fall being upon us is how long each morning does it take for the sun to heat up our “florida room”. For several weeks, early morning temperatures were quite pleasant here in this screened-in back porch. But by 7am, the temperature would have risen to be too hot to sit in it. Fall is officially 6 days away, but yesterday, the cool morning feeling in the porch was still with me at 8am, a full hour later than Summer! Barb has always loved Fall best, and now I have reluctantly come to agree with her. My favorite time of year has heretofore been Spring, but Fall is now on a par with it, I think.
Putting this house on the market has been the semi-constant discussion for a couple of weeks (at the square table conversation area) and we’ve come up with a short list of things which need to be repaired or altered and we’ve set things in motion to get them done. Then, we’ll list this house with our favorite realtor, Rita, and begin to remodel the small house near downtown Fort Payne. We’ve got great plans for how to make it into a “garden home” sort of look. Another phase in the constantly changing life scenery of the Lockharts! That will be the 22nd place we will have lived in our almost 60 years of married life. I think we’re going to like this one and maybe call ourselves “settled!”
Of course, it takes a lot of discussion to get this sort of thing off the ground. We discuss how to price this house regularly and will until we actually list it or take an offer. It’s the nature of the process. Likewise, the remodel of the “new” place, until we settle on who and how we’ll get things done, it is a part of daily conversation. If we didn’t do these kinds of communication, how could we continue the compatibility? Married life, dear young friends, is work.
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The SIMH today is a not so old Southern Gospel song, done by the Florida Boys Quartet, written by a lady by the name of Maryjohn Wilkins. I didn’t know who wrote it till I googled it. But, she wrote a dandy: Scars in The Hands of Jesus— “And the only thing there that’s been made by man, are the scars in the hands of Jesus.” A good thing to keep fresh in our minds. You see, we only have access to the things of this earth and Paul reminded us in 1 Tim.6 that “we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. So, when we go to the Lord, we go without our own resources. We are bought with a price, we offer nothing and The Lord, the Righteous Judge gets all the glory, allowing us by His grace to participate in it. Glad my mind went to that song today.
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As the heightened activity aimed at finding a new store location revs up, it isn’t unusual to have new opportunities also pop up. Most often, however, the one that is worked on the most will wind up being the choice. Partly because we educate ourselves on the pros and cons, details and missing details, dollars for this, but no dollars for that, etc., and then we can be more sure of our decision making prowess. Of course, until the final decision is made and work sets in to bring about the move, the personal mental angst rockets around like satellites in orbit in our heads! But, soon the activity will slow and a plan will take shape; a plan to eliminate problems, to illuminate upgrades and new items for the new store and for future growth and ultimate success! That’s why we do this sort of thing!
I have a secret hope for this store to be a show-place for prospects East of the Mississippi and for showing the advantages of owning Blue Jug; a place where we can showoff the best of the business! For Blue Jug (the wholesaler) to be able to serve stores in the Southeast properly, we need to be able to build a regional warehouse. And for that, we need to have 5-7 stores to serve being within driving distance. We presently have only two. But, more will come, especially if the can see a first rate store here in Fort Payne……More to Come.
Thanks for reading, the Elder
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