Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

The mall management companies in our neck of the woods have spent the past several years removing the water features and other nature related scenery from our shopping malls. The majority of this ambience has been replaced with IKEA like furniture and carpeting all arranged at a jaunty angle.

They’re missing the boat.

While in Greenville, S.C. for work I stay at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Greenville. Like many other Hyatt hotels, there’s quite a bit in the way of waterfalls, multi-level landings, glass walls, plants, trees and other environmentally suggestive bric-a-brac around the place.

I find the effect to be quite pleasant.

One of the hardest things about living in Upstate New York (other than the urban decay, taxes, fleeing industrial ventures and stifling government) is the weather. The malls of the 1970s and 1980s had an atmosphere that made you want to be inside because it reminded you of that pleasant outdoor feeling. Fountains. Trees. Mulch. You can’t find that in the middle of December in the Lake Ontario Snowbelt but you certainly could find it at Penn Can Mall. Today? Carpeting and furniture.

Big whoop.

We often talk about the fact that Americans sit on their ass and do nothing recreational anymore. Walking around the mall isn’t the same as running the Boston Marathon but at least it’s movement. Give people a reason to move. Revive the pleasant atmosphere of a waterfall. Let Midge and Marge sit next to a statue with water shooting out of its naval as they sip their Starbucks and play Canasta.

Why can’t we have pleasant indoor scenery anymore? Life was never meant to be sterile with carpeting set at a jaunty angle.

The wooded area behind the house always has that one tree that is precocious. In the autumn there is one maple tree that turns her colors to red before the rest of the trees even think about shying away from green. Every spring, this guy decides he wants to be the first one to show some spring color.

The back lawn is still quite wet but I was able to navigate around a little bit without stepping up to my ankles in water. I measured out the width of the creek that runs through our back lawn to figure out how long a bridge to the other side would be. I need to build a bridge that is 10 feet long. I’m thinking two or three treated 4-by-4s and some strategically placed pallets. This will give us a little footbridge to cross over into the wooded area. I can jump the creek, I’ve done it many times, but it’s just not the same without a cat jumping along with me.

When the sun decided to peek through a little bit this afternoon I noticed that there are some other trees farther back on the property that are starting to show a little bit of fuzz that resembles something like spring colors.

It is definitely a welcome site.

I went for a walk this morning before getting started with my work day. The weather was slightly cooperative; it was in the 60s but it was raining a little bit. No worries, I hear laughter in the rain.

Getting outside really lets my mind wander. My typical walk route takes me along a road that was build in the late 1990s in preparation for the nearby expressway that opened up in 2003.

This is the remains of the “borrow pit”, the area of land where the dirt was excavated and relocated to the nearby expressway that was under construction at the time. When all was said and done, this fairly level piece of land was left behind. I have always wanted to have the means to build an estate of some sort on this piece of property. My mind dreamed of modest house built in the mid-century style with a couple of out buildings, a plush piece of lawn and a warm and friendly homestead that would make people feel welcome.

It’s always fun to dream of the possibilities. The key is to make those dreams come true. When you have a vision, you have something to look forward to.