Bob Skelton

Who Are We Really?

I was out taking my walk this morning when I happened upon a young man with his wife and their dog. As usual when there is a dog in the mix people become very friendly. He approached me and issued a ‘good morning’ to which I replied the same. He then told me that he was a roofer, which I found quite odd. We talked for a bit and then I proceeded on my walk.

I got to thinking about it later. Why do we tend to offer our profession as our identity. I’d like to know why that is. It would seem to me that we are much more than our profession.

I happen to be a truck driver, a draftsman, a husband, a father and numerous other titles that serve as identities. I’m not just one thing. I wear many hats in this life. I am a happy-go-lucky type of guy; not wanting to cause anyone harm. I try to avoid confrontations whenever I can but I do not back down without a reason to do so. Sometimes one must keep the peace no matter the cost to one’s pride. There are too many qualities in a person to limit them to only one.

Whoever decided that society should present each of us as our profession? When did that all come about?

Could it be that in a sparse community one identified his profession in order to be accepted as a newcomer. He could merely tell others that he was a blacksmith, and that if anyone had use of his profession he was the one they could come to. It seems plausible to me.

Maybe it is a starting place. If we have a starting place we can proceed to discover more about each other. Should the starting place fail on the first attempt there is no reason to go any farther.

Conclusion
Just maybe this guy was new to the area and used a starting place to get to know more about our community. I’m not sure.

Just thinking out loud. ;o)

Until next time…

by Bob Skelton Posted on October 16, 2016

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It’s Good To Be Home

Squrrel on log — Making this little guy nervous

It’s good to be home and back into familiar surroundings. We have been on a mini-vacation on the North Shore above Duluth. I took a week from work on Thursday last week then up north on Friday until Tuesday. I have today then back to work tomorrow night.

It was a much welcomed break especially for Wink. She stays cooped up in the apartment most of the time until we need to go to the doctor or some other event. I was glad to get her out of here for a little while.

I bought a new camera a few weeks ago especially for this trip to capture images without using my cell phone. It seems to me that a cell phone just can’t compete with a real camera. I could be wrong but that is just how I think.

Scott and Tammy came up Sunday and we celebrated his birthday. He, Tammy and I took a walk that afternoon and shot some pics. We all went to one of our favorite restaurants for supper for a very enjoyable meal. That night they taught us a couple of new (to us) games. We laughed and joked and had a tremendous time until about one-thirty in the morning.

We went to breakfast with them on Monday morning ( more like noon) and saw them off back to the Cities while we continued to Canal Park for some shopping. Then packed up and came home on Tuesday.

The weather was exceptional the whole trip; in the 60s and 70s. I had envisioned dreary gloomy skies and possibly some snow. It had been that cool before we left to go up. I had taken some warm weather gear and found it totally unnecessary.

It’s much cooler today at home. As I write it’s about 40 degrees and has rained through the night. I went for my walk anyway; I just put on a few more clothes. I put on about 1.5 miles this morning. That’s about average for me.

I will go back to work on Thursday night and make plans for another trip to one of our favorite places in the whole world. Maybe later in the year or I hope next year. Until next time then.

by Bob Skelton Posted on October 12, 2016

Posted in Vacation, Walking | Tagged 2016 Vacation | 1 Comment

Are You Committed To Walking

When I developed diabetes a few months ago my doctor told me I needed to get some exercise. With a very few exceptions now, I take a walk every day. I usually feel more energized afterward and look forward to the next day of walking.

Today I took what I considered to be a rather long walk because of not being able to walk yesterday due to a previous engagement. I have an app on my iPhone that records my walking/running distance (not that I would ever run, Heaven forbid) and the number of steps taken.

Charlie's restaurant building

But when I viewed the app the distance was not much more than previous walks. It recorded almost 5600 steps as opposed to somewhere in the vicinity of 4400 steps but only logged about one half mile longer.

I took a circuitous route, one that I had only taken partially before. It led to a restaurant on the lake nearby. I had walked to the restaurant previously but had turned and retraced my steps. Today I found a different way to get home.

I did manage to take my new camera with and got some snaps of the area. Notice in the last picture the two ducks sleeping in the sun on the dock.

I rather enjoyed the adventure.

by Bob Skelton Posted on September 25, 2016

Posted in Walking | Tagged my walk | Leave a comment

Walk in the woods

I live in a large apartment complex.The apartments, along with numerous single family dwellings, are carved out of a thick wooded area next to a rather large lake. The woods serve to hide each area from the other and provide a sense of privacy for the human dwellers.

The woods appear old; vines drape themselves throughout. It’s as if it has been left to its own devices to grow and decay. There are small trees that have succumbed to disease and lie rotting on the ground. Those that have been broken in storms lie close by. The impression is of a dark, damp primitive forest.

A creek meanders through the woods providing water for thirsty animals and a place for the woods to exist. At either end of the creek are ponds, scummy now in late summer, where waterfowl survive. Squirrels and birds and probably raccoons, though I didn’t see any, make their homes in the woods as I would guess do other wildlife. I saw no evidence to the contrary.

I took a walk behind the complex just to explore what was back there. I saw fast food bags and containers, beer cans and other debris littered along the edges of this seemingly prehistoric woods giving the illusion of a counterfeit setting staged for some unknown effect. One could tell the animals had enjoyed the remnants of what had been left in the bags, which were ripped and torn asunder; their contents strewn not far from where they lie. I wasn’t too surprised though. Humans try to hide the behavior that’s not permitted and it ends up ruining our planet.

by Bob Skelton Posted on September 29, 2014

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Has Visiting Gone Out of Style?

When I was young my family would travel to my Grandparents house to visit for a week or two in the summer time. It was our “vacation”. Usually it was Mom’s parents we stayed with and at some point we would go visit with my Dad’s mom. My Grampa Skelton was dead by the time I came along. At any rate Mom and Dad spent the time visiting with everyone they could before it was time to go home.

Now nobody goes visiting even when they live close by. Now everyone visits on line and they are all able to visit together even while doing it at different times. While this is the acceptable way to visit nowadays, I guess, it’s just not the same. One misses the presence of the other person. The unique way that they move their hands and arms when they talk. There is no familiar smell of the other person. No essence of their presence. No watching their mouth make the sounds that emanate from it. Mouths are unique too, you know. No hint of how their eyebrows move or the translation of their words showing in their eyes. I miss those times.

Not only can I not see the person I’m visiting with we can’t even share a cup of coffee or a bite to eat. I could offer them a bowl of homemade soup and a chunk of cornbread to go with it but it will hardly fit through the computer screen. We could share a piece of pie but I would be eating mine on my side of the screen and they would be eating theirs on their side of the screen. Hardly worthwhile, don’t you think? We couldn’t discuss the flavor and have the other person really know what we were talking about. A total waste of breath.

Call me old fashioned but I rather enjoy the way it used to be.

by Bob Skelton Posted on March 10, 2014

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