Father.

This little scene is just outside the site I am on now. I walk along past this each time I leave the site. The water yesterday was so calm as I crossed the bridge I could watch the fish swim against the stream. Nature in all its wonder.

There is a young child on the site who seems to have caught the bug of being interested in all around him. He spends most time pointing at things on the ground and turning over stones. How I wish I could let him see the bird that is sitting about ten yards from me right now. It is sitting on a nest looking down at me its little eye catching the light.

The wonder of nature indeed.

This reminds me of another little boy. He was continually asking his mother all sorts of questions about the things that caught his interest. 

One day while in the garden he asked his mother where babies came from. The mother thinking he was too young to understand took a little seed from a flowerhead. She told him that her and his father had got a seed just like this and put it somewhere safe until he had grown.

The little lad seemed happy with that a moved on to another subject and the mother felt happy.

Later that day the young boy took a seed and hid it under a stone.

Two or three days later he returned to the stone and gently lifted it. A large black beetle crawled out from under it. The little boy looked at it and said, "Oh you are so ugly. If I was not your father I would stand on you."

The first lesson in the beauty of nature is to take our share of its ownership.

Have a good day, enjoy.

Boating.

I did enjoy my stay in Paris. It was so lovely to meet up with friends from the years ago, lost and rebound never I hope to lose again. I had three hectic days of sightseeing and late night at the Palace of Versailles  fireworks music and fountains.

But how nice it is also to get back into the land, into the country. Today I walked along La Cher a river that passes through the little village I am now in. We walked through the village and up into the woods through a little path it would have been so easy to miss. It was beautiful so peaceful with just the birds and scents.

Back down through the ancient village and back along the river edge. There I saw a lovely picture worthy of any painting. A man in his little boat standing fishing and reflected on the mirror water.

So different from the story of the woman who came to my mind.

It was late spring and a woman was trying out her new boat. 

Try as hard as she could it just would not perform for her. It would not turn or move forward, no matter how hard she tried.

After trying for three days she decided to seek help. Using a pole she eventually got it along to the local boat yard.

She asked if they could solve her problem?

Workers determined everything was working fine. One of the workers put on his wet suit and dived to see if there was a problem underneath.

He very quickly came back to the surface spluttering and laughing.

Under the boat firmly in place was the launching trailer still attached.

Make sure before you start your day you carry no unnecessary burdens.

Have a good day.

What is the Salary?

Yesterday I was walking with a good friend. We were remembering when we left school and got our first ever jobs. My first job started the day after I left school. There thing for us no such  thing as a gap year wages had to be earned.

I had no interview for my first job. I went and met with the boss, he told me what was expected of me the hours I would be expected to work and so on.

Then as if almost a last thought he told me what my starting wage would be.

Now there is an expectation that the employee might have some input into the agreed salary and the interview might even include a section at the end for input by the prospective employee. This is a great step forward and good.

This reminded me of a true story I heard.

The interview had gone well and was nearing its end.

The Human Resources person asked the young engineer fresh out of university, she asked  "And what starting salary were you looking for?"

The Engineer said, "In the neighborhood of £45,000 a year, depending on the benefits package."

The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of five-weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50 percent of salary, and a company car leased every two years, say, a nice Land Rover?"

The Engineer sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?"

And the interviewer replied, "Yeah, but you started it."

Have a great day.