November 14, 2019. Madison, Mississippi. Oliver.

There was much to admire in Oliver. He was the top agent in D.C for many years and he was the top agent in the office. He worked hard every day. He went to Mass every day at 6:00. After breakfast he went to work and he never stopped until dark. He always dressed well, always in a suit and tie. And he was always positive. He never said a negative word so he was cheery and enthusiastic when you met him. He and I worked together in the office as agents but when I was asked to be the manager of the office I said I would not manage Oliver, so he moved with Butch to Potomac. My problem with Oliver was that he took every advantage for himself. I was the opposite as an agent. I called what Oliver did was cheating. Oliver started into the real estate world right out of high school. His system was to obtain listings and sell them himself. This was pre lockbox and computer. Before computers, information on new listings was difficult. Cards were delivered to offices with the new listings so Oliver always sold his own listings before anyone knew about them. In the early days of Oliver's life as an agent in order to see the listings an agent was required to make an appointment either with the seller or with the listing agent. Of course, neither was ever available on his listings. But the lockbox came along, which Oliver hated. Often the lockbox was turned backwards, or no key was in the box on his listings. Next came the computer, which again Oliver did not like. But what Oliver did was to have his listings priced high. When an agent such as me had a buyer write a reasonable offer on his listings, Oliver made no effort to educate the seller on the price. I many times came with the comparable sales in the area but Oliver only supported the high price. After 4 or 5 agents brought offers that were all in the same range, Oliver would them write his own offer and sell it. As an agent, I stopped showing Oliver's listings, which of course was what Oliver wanted. I do not like cheaters although I got along well with Oliver. Butch often said to me that the most interesting part of his job as a manager was trying to keep Oliver out of trouble. I wanted no part of Oliver's business. Most agents felt the same way and were pleased when he was no longer in the office. A bad reputation for one agent taints everyone else in the office. I often thought that Oliver would have made even more money if he co-operated with other agents and not cheated. It worked for all the other agents in the office after he left. But that was not his style.

November 13, 2019. Madison, Mississippi. Harriett.

Harriett is a powerful movie. Kashina and I saw it this afternoon at a theater in Madison. The story was well known to me but it is worth repeating. Harriett Tubman, who lived in Dorchester County in Maryland, was a slave along with her parents and siblings. She escaped in the early 1830's, using the Underground Railroad, ending up in Philadelphia. Then she returned time and again, eventually leading 70 slaves to freedom. That is the story. I also knew that during the Civil War she worked as a spy for the Union Army. After the Civil War she worked hard to try to get the women a vote, although those two parts of her life were only read about after the movie was over. She died at age 93 in 1913. The movie is worth seeing. It is a story worth telling. And it is well done and dramatic. My question is why now is the movie hitting the big screen? I have known of the work os Harriett Tubman my life but it is only now that we see the saga in the theater. Is it perhaps that a strong successful woman would not be accepted by the buying customers? I tried to find out from Kashina whether or not the black population would want to see the movie. But she had no idea. Certainly it is not a pretty picture but it is a true story. Kashina wondered if the young people knew anything about the Underground Railroad. One aside; when the Dred Scott case was passed by the Supreme Court, the community of freed slaves who lived in Philadelphia were put into a panic and as soon as possible left for Canada. Kashina and I both agreed that the movie was powerful. And we were pleased we went this cold afternoon. "Harriett" is worth watching.

November 12, 2019. Madison, Mississippi. Freeze Warnings.

Ken would know what to do when we have a freeze warning. But I do not. So I just hope for the best. Right now the temperature is 27. My 5:00 tomorrow morning it will be 23. I have no idea if the external water faucets have been turned off. The television is telling everyone to be prepare for severe frost. Of course, I have no clue what I should do. This morning Cheryl came over for a cup of tea. She mentioned that in the Jackson area everyone is worried about freezing pipes because the pipes are not buried very deep. But she is pleased that the soil is still warm so unless we have sustained freezing, the pipes should not freeze. At least she hopes. Tomorrow we will have 50 degrees so tonight will be the only night of really cold weather. Temperature is absolute. 25 degrees is the same temperature in Ottawa and Jackson. But in Jackson it seems much colder for the locals because until recently, the temperature have been in the 80's and 90's. Everyone wears warm boots and heavy coats and warm hats. So people here suffer in the cold weather. I am always interested in interior temperatures. When the temperature is low, the house seems chilly even though I have not changed the thermostat. I wear a vest inside when it is cold outside even though I do not wear anything more than a long sleeved shirt when the temperature is 50. It seems odd to me. For now, I hope my pipes do not freeze. Fortunately, the furnaces are working well. I am cosy in my little house even though it is actually freezing outside. What a surprise.

November 11, 2019. Madison, Mississippi. The Lull Before the Storm.

The air was totally still. I could hear no birds. I could hear no wind. I was spooked. When I go out for a walk, I hear lots of noise. I hear boats on the reservoir and hear airplanes in the distance. And I hear lots of bird songs. But today when I went out to walk at 4:00 there were no sounds at all. Being by the water means having breezes. But not today. Not even any birds. They must have known that something is coming and they were hiding. I talked with George in Liverpool this afternoon. He said that in Nova Scotia everyone was preparing for cold weather, followed by a storm. "We are battening down the hatches," said George. I told him that we in Mississippi were also expecting cold weather. But we will not get as cold as Nova Scotia. When I went walking, the temperature was 70 degrees. At 8:00 the rain started. By 9:00 the temperature was 45. And by sunrise, which is 6:25 the temperature will be 29, which is about as cold as Jackson ever gets. The forecast is for us to have rain all night and we might even have snow. Molly will be delighted if it snows because the schools will be closed. The solution for snow and ice here in Mississippi is to just wait. We will be 50 by Wednesday. Today when I was out walking I knew that bad weather was coming. I have never heard the air so still. Spooky.

November 10, 2019. Madison, Mississippi. Switching Horses.

My friend Eleanor picked me up at 3:00. She invited me to attend an art show, to be held at the home of an artist friend. Another artist from New Orleans had come to bring his latest paintings. The home is full of wonderful art. I remembered attending a similar event several years ago so I was happy to attend. The day was glorious and we enjoyed the drive to the house, which was just about ten minutes north of my home. When we arrived we noticed that only one car was in the driveway. Eleanor commented that the show is not over run with people. We rang the bell. Rather than her old friend greeting Eleanor effusively at the door, a little lady opened the door about a crack. Eleanor did not know the lady. Despite the dour look on the ladies face, Eleanor said cheerfully that we were here for the art show. The lady said only one sentence. Then closed the door. "The show was yesterday,"she said. We were bummed. We were so taken aback that we did not ask if friend Roy was at home. Both of us were struck dumb. But we had a lovely afternoon anyway. We drove home to my house and drank a cup of herbal tea, all the time overlooking the reservoir. Eleanor is a busy lady and for her to have 75 minutes of interrupted conversation was a treat, and for me. We talked about Mississippi and the history and culture. We talked about family. We just had a good old time together. So even though we missed the art show, we switched horses in mid stream and spent a delightful chat, which we would never have been able to do if we had visited the show. Some times you just get lucky.

November 9, 2019. Madison, Mississippi. Simple Pleasures.

This morning at 10:45 Dreisys walked in my front door. I know she is bringing a basket of nutritious, delicious food. The food is hot because she cooked this morning. She leaves the food on the counter beside the fridge to cool. Then she comes to tell me what she has cooked. And we have a little chat. Her food is important but in addition she brings her spirit and charm. She enjoys cooking for me and she lets me know. Today we talked about her mother because she has told her mother about me and her mother wanted a picture. Dreisys took a selfing of the both of us and sent it to her mother who lives in Cuba. Just before I returned to Mississippi, Dreisys and her husband and son again went to Cuba to buy her mother a little house. Her mother is happy and Dreisys is thrilled to be able to help. Spending just a short time with Dreisys gives me great pleasure and of course I eat her good cooking all week. Friday Molly and Christina had a half day at school so we three went out for lunch. I asked Molly to select a restaurant and she selected a favorite in the Renaissance. But the first place she selected had a waiting list so we went to the elegant Chinese restaurant, I.P.Chang. At both places, Christina dropped us off. Molly was careful to have me hold her arm and when we entered both restaurants she spoke to the hostess and asked for a table. She is 11 so I was impressed that she could handle herself in the fancy restaurants. Our lunch was delicious and lots of fun. We were celebrating my latest scan so we were especially joyful. In truth, it was a simple lunch for the tree of us but it brought me much pleasure. Often, the simple pleasure last the longest. I had the benefit of two simple pleasures the past two days. And I am grateful for them both.

November 8, 2019. Maddison, Mississippi. RFD.

Ken and I discovered the RFD channel when we put a TV at the ranch. The channel deals with farms and ranches and the economics of both. As we owned a ranch and sold our Longhorn calves, we started watching it. I have been watching it ever since even though I no longer own a farm or a ranch. The best part of the channel is their news. Everything on the news has to do with agriculture and the business of farming and ranching. So I hear what the federal government has down with the laws dealing with that topic but nothing about the rest of the political world, which is a great blessing. One of their programs, coming out of Oregon is called Farm Monitor. The program gives lots of information about growing stuff. Another program is PhD Ag. where two PhD brothers give information about pesticides and weeds and plantings. They both work for the U.of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and answer lots of questions submitted to the program. And they play lots of musical groups. On right now is a program called Windsongs, highlighting a different musician every week. I always watch the prices of hogs and corn etc. etc., but I am not sure why. When I sit down to watch TV, I always check to see what is showing on all the channels that I like. And if nothing else of interest catches my fancy I am almost always entertained on RFD, which they advertise as "the most important television channel in the nation". They might be right. After all, agriculture is perhaps the most important aspect of our life. I have asked many people if they know about RFD. No one has told me yes. . But I know about it. I and I enjoy it.