Generally Speaking...

It has been two weeks since my last post, and for that I apologize. I am flattered by the emails I have gotten from friends reminding me of my 1 blog a week promise and all the nice feedback I have received in between. I suppose I am following my own advice about balance. Sarah and I had a wonderful time camping last weekend and I unfortunately don't tend to have a whole lot of time during the week to write or have creative white space.

That being said, I am almost feeling the need to just re-cap these last couple weeks for myself. I have to say that this last month in general has been characterized by deepening relationships of a surprising nature. I feel like I have found some new connections within others such as new common interests, new ways of sharing world views, and personal philosophies.You know, the dreams NT stuff is made of. Never have I felt so blessed to count so many as good friends with whom I can commune.

At work, it has kind of been a whirlwind month in a sense, (August that is). We have had 4 new employees hired on, not to mention the ones that didn't make it. In a company that optimally runs at about 10-12 employees, that's a huge turnover number. Last month was our biggest hurrah of the summer as well. Many, many days I would have to slide into the shop an hour or two after quitting time simply because of work load or traffic or what have you. In all, there is still a present and deepening mutual respect between myself and my employers, and the challenges have not been without their moments of enjoyment.

In the last two weeks, I have read Titan, The Biography of John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), an excellent reading experience indeed. Rockefeller's life was such a fascinating mix of cutthroat businessman and altruistic philanthropist. A couple highlights include his huge donation to a college in Atlanta for African-American women in 1884, as well as donating money to a black man so he could purchase his wife's freedom from slavery. His business exploits are nothing short of amazing. Chevron, exxon, mobil, and ammaco are just a couple of the remaining oil companies that were mere fragments of the single monolithic oil empire which the Sherman Antitrust Law of 1890 forced him to dissolve. Monster or Saint, I thoroughly enjoyed getting a better glimpse of some of the bloody business battles that were fought in the formation of the industrialized America we know today.

I suppose that's it for now. My desired state is to remain as centered as I possibly can. I feel like I have had a very rich handful of weeks which has only served to increase the gyroscopic forces at work to keep me spinning on my axis and for that, I am grateful.