Snippets from real life

I had a conversation with a close friend last night. He was buying the beer so I was listening.

My friend is very frugal and takes the long view. He wants to be able to retire in comfort.

He has been saving.

His wife is more of a "live in the moment" person. She is sure that it will all somehow work out.

Couples are like ecosystems on islands. They evolve their own equilibrium.

My friend and his wife evolved to where my friend handled the bills and they had negotiated an allowance he could save/invest and the rest was hers to spend. Because of the lumpiness of bills coming in and the occasional, rare windfall the amount available to her varied.

Consequently, every month she asked how much was available for her to spend and he told her. She would then proceed to spend every penny...and sometimes a bit more.

Two weeks ago she accused my friend of hoarding, of saving more than they had agreed to.

Racking his brains, my friend tried to think of how he had been caught. His thinking was that if she when over every once in a while then he could too.

He agreed. Yes, sometimes he tucked away a windfall that had come his way.

He apologized.

She accepted.

He had to know.

"How did you figure it out?" he asked.

"I looked in my IRA and it was bigger than I expected. Much bigger." she said.

My friend had been "hiding" the savings in his wife's IRA, sure that she would never look there.

That is probably what saved him. It certainly avoided the appearance that he was packing a fund to bail out of the marriage.

No matter how strange or exotic things are between couples, it is not for us to comment or judge. Some wag once observed that married couples are much like a pair of scissors: They may appear to be working at cross-purposes but regardless of appearances, it is always punishing to inject yourself between them.

In this case it worked out.

Snippet Two
My oldest daughter was a very active toddler.

She zoomed around the house like an over-caffeinated Jack Russel Terrier.

One of her tricks when playing tag was to dash beneath the kitchen table and pop out the other side.

Toddlers grow at an amazing rate.

My oldest daughter was amazed when she tried to execute her trick move and the table reached down and beaned her on her forehead. Laid her out flat on her back.

Life is like that. Growing up involves putting away the things of childhood and grasping the duties and privileges of adulthood. It is a natural inclination to want the privileges and to shirk the duties. Driving vehicles is fun. Working so you can fill the gas tank, not so much.

Snippet three
A few pictures

Clearing the fence line. Branches and weeds want to short out the electrified strand.

The old girls know the score. They trot right in. Fresh grass. The calves and younger cows are clueless and the Captain has to do a little bit of convincing.

Finally, they are all on my side of the fence. The Captain said he has rushes on his side of the fence and that the cattle have no problem eating them. Time will tell.

And the bull finally decided that he needed to be with his girlfriends