I’m going to skip most of the news for
today, since there isn’t much of it to be had; and write about our family
business and future plans meeting that I was actually able to attend this time.
Let’s start with the more imminent news for
here at home. I’ve mentioned before that
the new bridge will be ready ahead of the Memorial Day weekend; and that’s
still on-track as of today. We’ll also
have a walk and bike path along the river from the new bridge to the park ready
by then; and a cut-through path from the end of our street to the new section
of town along the edge of the Emerson and Seager properties so that we’ll be
able to bike and walk on it instead of going around the block – or walking
across back yards as some of us have been doing until now. That’s going to give us a bike path over to
the lab, medical center, and park that’s going to be great – especially once
all of the paths are finished by next summer.
Since I’m writing about that already; the
new section of the park will be open in time for Memorial Day too; with most or
all of the in-park biking and hiking trails finished and open to use by
then. I haven’t had time to check up on
the progress for those trails in a while; but we do hear about it from the
younger kids; and I’m sure that Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I will have a lot of
fun exploring those new trails once they’re ready to go. I guess the new biking and hiking
entertainment at the park leads nicely into the news for one of the new
businesses starting up in time for Memorial Day too – a bike and canoe rental
shop that’s going to be located next to the old section of the Inn now that
that area isn’t needed for deliveries to the kitchen. We won’t need canoe or bike rentals; but I’m
sure they’ll get lots of business from other locals and visitors for both.
Let’s stay on that track; and move on to the
news from Quarry Lake. Their additions
to the campground this year include a second major playground and more new
water slides; but biking is the big news for them too; and they’re going to
have a new section of the park that they’ve apparently purchased that will have
biking trails too – along with bike rentals for their campers and day
visitors. They’ve also apparently put
together a longer-term expansion plan that we’re hearing a bit about; but I’ll
save that news for another time when it’ll be more relevant. What I can say for this year, though, is that
my friends and I are going to want to make more visits to Quarry Lake; and if those
biking trails are really great; maybe we’ll even do some camping adventures so
that we can do that for a couple of days at a time – along with the rock wall,
zip line, swimming, and everything else that goes on out there.
Finally, for the local business side of
this report, we’ll have one more new business starting up in time for the
summer holiday season. The Art Gallery
will compliment the museum and antique stores; and will carry a selection of
local arts as well as unique art from around the country and even
internationally. The last part of that
is apparently thanks to some of our volunteer charity travelers scouting for
pieces of local art that they’re already buying and shipping home for the
gallery owners; so it should be a pretty cool store – even if I don’t expect to
be buying paintings or sculptures anytime soon – unless for a gift for one of
my favorite adults.
Going just a bit further out now, construction
on the third and final apartment building will begin in September; and it will
be the only apartment building along the river – and a bit upscale compared to
the first two buildings. We’re going to
need that type of apartments for the young professional singles and couples
that will be graduating and working here over the next decade or three –
including some of my favorite, current crop of collegians. The work in the new section of town between
now and then will just be on more homes and townhomes; but that work is slowing
a bit now too as we’re still working to absorb the new housing along with
selling or renting out older houses or apartments in the ‘old’ parts of town.
Graduation is coming up fast for our high
school seniors, and we talked about that tonight too. I won’t go into the details, but I can report
that all of our Grade Twelve students are pretty much set up with their plans
either to go to college or take jobs after school. I won’t write about all of them tonight, but
two of the teens that will be very important to our family businesses will be
Anna-Marie Palmer, because she’s planning on being a lawyer and working with
Dad once she’s earned her degrees and passed the bar exam; and Erica Bassett,
because she’s going into physiotherapy and will have a future at the med center
with a health care option that we don’t currently have in the local area at
all. As I’ve mentioned before; I’m
really glad that our teens have more options than ever before that allows us to
stay at home instead of moving away; though that is putting a bit of pressure
on the businesses with lower-paying jobs.
We’re working on that too; but that’s a longer-term project that is as
much about making it possible for those wages to climb higher to make those
jobs more attractive.
Another highlight of the meeting was our
review of the charity, business, and archives trips that are ongoing and always
expanding. We have more volunteers
getting involved all of the time; and the seniors in particular really love the
free world travel that goes along with the charity work. Grandma and Grandpa have taken the winter off
from that this year, but they will be doing trips this summer, fall, and winter
again – though they’ll also spend a bit more time here as well once they’re
home from their winter getaway in the south.
I am so amazed at how much more we can do in a hands-on way with our new
friends and neighbors; and we really are making a difference in the world –
even if it those changes are small when measured up against all of the problems
in the world.
By the way, unless you’re reading this
journal during some very distant, Utopian eon, I’ll mention that an Ascension
of the Light does not mean that bad things stop happening in the world. Evil is just as eternal as good, and while
things are always much better for us when the Light has the upper hand over
darkness; that doesn’t mean that there are still troubles and clashes with bad
people.
That definitely wasn’t on the agenda for
the meeting tonight, though; so let’s move along.
We wrapped up our evening discussions with
a review of the overall family business and charities; and we’re doing
spectacularly-well with everything.
Making more money every year helps us to both grow the family business
and increase our contributions to our charities, and while it is sometimes fun
to think about being part of a family business worth hundreds of billions of
dollars; I manage to keep that as part of my secret identity – and don’t really
think of that at all as personal wealth – just a tool we’ll continue to develop
and use as we work toward that Ascension of the Light.
That covers most of the highlights from
that meeting, so let’s do a micro-review of the rest of my day; and then wrap
this up so I can get off to sleep.
Tai Chi, breakfast, and my school day were
all fairly normal with nothing exciting to report. Michael and I went home with Rowen to Tim’s
house to do our homework together after school; and then he came home to my
house for dinner before heading home after that to hang out with his father
while I was busy with my meeting – and so was Miranda. The studying was more fun than usual, and it’s
been a while since the four of us have done that together when not in school;
so it was nice to do that for a change.
Dinner was easy and quick because of the meeting; and I walked home with
Michael after we did the clean-up – and then came back here with Miranda once
she was ready to go. The meeting lasted
until ten o’clock or so; I came straight up to bed after seeing everyone out
and getting Ethan and Ehlana into their beds for the night too; and then I time
phased my work and studying to still get done before midnight.
While the work and studying went well,
there isn’t anything newsworthy to report that isn’t already covered in the
archives for our family business – if you have access to that information; so I
guess that’s all for tonight – and quick-enough that I’ll be sleeping before
midnight if I hurry up, put my computer to bed, and get to that right now.
Consider that done; and, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
