Somebody HAS to Do It

Yesterday morning, while George and I were sitting at our computers watching the early news on TV, we heard LOTS of noise coming from our neighbor's house next door. Being the curiousity seekers that we are, we checked it out. There was a tree service (with about 6 men) trimming trees in my neighbor's back yard. So---what else does a blogger do but go to the side door of our deck and take some pictures!!!!! The guy WAY up in that tree actually waved at me once. I was glad that he is NOT my son up there doing that kind of work. Yipes!!!!! BUT---they have their jobs down to an art--and I enjoyed watching them.

Our area has many big shade trees (thank goodness) --and sometimes after these trees have grown so much, they do hang over our houses in some cases. We will need to have some of ours trimmed sometime also. Our neighbor's house is newer than ours ---and doesn't have nearly as many trees around it, so I was surprised to see them trimming their trees. But I do notice that many of the newer homes being built up here don't have nearly as many trees in their yards... We personally love our huge trees... AND our birds love them also. Here are some pictures I took yesterday morning from our deck---looking toward our neighbor's home next door. The guy in the tree was about 25-30 feet up there.












These guys really knew what they were doing... The one guy UP in that tree was just like a monkey crawling around up there. I'll bet, when he was a little boy, he probably loved climbing trees. They used ropes to attach to the big limbs as they fell, so that they wouldn't fall hard on the ground --or on the flowerbed below. The guys on the ground immediately cut up the limbs and took them out to their machine where they turned them into sawdust. As I said, I was impressed with this job---and they did a great job of cleaning up after themselves. IF and when we get our trees trimmed ---we'll call that company!

You know---there are all kinds of jobs out there for people. Some of them aren't this dangerous, but it really bothers me when someone goes for months and months without a JOB. It may not be the job he/she wants, but by darn---it IS a job and somebody has to do it.




Here are a couple of photos I took yesterday of the huge trees around our house... You can also see the pretty dogwood tree to the left, in our front yard.



Here's the other side of our house---showing the trees. The smaller one in front is a Redbud. By the way, it may look as if our trees are over the top of our home, but they are not---CLOSE, but not there yet.

Thanks SO much for all of your wonderful comments after my "Opinion" Blog yesterday. I learn so much from you ---and I have found that many of you 'younger ones' really have a better feel as to how to handle situations like mine than I did/do.... You seem to be able to ignore it for what it is... Wish I were more like you!!!!! I'm learning though---even at age 67!!!! Thanks again.

I'll close with a picture of our pretty front yard ---after George mowed yesterday. The roses love this cooler weather --and are showing off right now.

Thanks again for visiting my blog. I love you all!

Hugs,

Can we Agree to Disagree?????

I really love blogging. I've been blogging since June of 2006 --but have only been on Blogger since January of 2009. I have been so lucky to have met so many wonderful people on this unique journey. I have alot of followers and I follow alot of different blogs --from all over the world. When I started my blog, I wanted it to be an online journal of my life, my thoughts and my experiences with family and friends. I have purposely stayed away from 'hot' topics like religion and politics. The title of my blog is "Joyful Reflections"----so I try to be careful and keep it JOYFUL.


However, I DO have my opinions ---and do express them at times. I think we ALL do--in one way or another. I am part of the 'fence-sitting' generation. That's good and that's bad. My generation doesn't always make decisions quickly or easily --so we 'sit on the fence'... On the other hand, it takes us 'fence-sitters', who can SEE both sides of a situation, to help with the compromise process. All of my life, I have been able to HELP when volatile situations occur. That is something I have always been proud of.









BUT---something came up recently while blogging which really took me aback.. I was on a friend's blog ----and gave 'my' opinion about a very 'touchy' subject. Uh-oh----I should have known better. Someone else shot back a very negative comment and PERSONALLY attacked me. I don't think that has ever happened to me before ---mainly because I don't usually allow myself to get in those kinds of situations. But --I did, and it hurt. ANYHOW----it's over and the entire post was deleted.


But now that I've thought about it, I wondered what others may think about this. I'd love to hear your thoughts and OPINIONS. Here are mine (take them ONLY as MY opinions and not facts):
-It's easy for someone to criticize someone else on paper, and say things that they may never say to their faces. I don't go to those kind of blogs--but I have heard about some horrible things in print on many controversial subjects.
-I learned that I obviously don't have much backbone when it comes to controversial subjects... Otherwise, I would have just ignored that nasty comment and not allowed it to upset me.
-It's also easy for any of us to say things and mean them one way--and someone else takes them another way. I'm sure we have ALL hurt someone's feelings at one time or another simply by the way we have written something. I'm sure I have done this myself without meaning any harm.
-Most people around me and in my life follow the old saying: "Let's agree to disagree" ... I don't think I have EVER been attacked personally for any opinion until now. It really threw me since this person doesn't really know anything about me.
-This has taught me to be more careful what I say when I make comments on others' blogs. But when can we express our opinions??????
-I may disagree with someone (and do)---but I hope and pray that I would NEVER attack them personally. What has happened to us as a people?????











I am not writing this post for anyone to say that you are sorry this happened to me... Please--please--please don't do this. It's not about me. It's over---and I've learned from it. And I'm sure it has probably happened to you. We all react and respond to things differently. Maybe you wouldn't have gotten so upset. None of us know how we'll react to things until they happen to us.. I have truly learned to be more careful while blogging!!











I am, however, writing this to have a discussion about how we as PEOPLE can feel free to express our opinions (even if they are different) --and have others respectfully disagree without getting personal. Life is too short for people to get so angry and mean--when someone disagrees with them. Thoughts????


I'll close with some quotes about OPINIONS:
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
Voltaire


"Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love truth."
Joseph Joubert


“The foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.”
James Russell Lowell


“I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.”
Edward Gitton


“Make sure you have a different opinion and people will talk about you.”
Arab Proverb


"A yawn may not be polite, but at least it is an honest opinion."
Unknown


After that last quote, I guess I'd better close this post!!!! ha


Have a great day.
Hugs,