Striving for Impact

I did not win the election yesterday. In fact, I got the lowest number of votes out of five candidates, but I'm still very encouraged by the fact that I got over two hundred votes, most of them from people I have never met.

Bow was not too upset by the election results, either. He enjoyed this unusually warm, though cloudy day.

He spent the morning with me, and the afternoon with Lawrence.

Driving around, running my errands today. I noticed once more how beautiful the Ozark landscape is in spring. I saw lots of forsythias right next to redbuds blooming by picturesque farmhouses, with cattle grazing against a barely noticeable mountainous backdrop. I am really lucky to be here.

I don't want to tell other people how to live. If I hope to have an impact, it is in helping to keep them free to make their own choices, as I also feel grateful to be allowed to make mine. It is quite possible that whatever impact I have will be by my writing, and not by serving in any public office. But I do strive for impact.

Traffic to this blog spiked on election day

Ironically, traffic on this blog spiked on election day Because most people have never heard of me, they sought to look me up and see what I had to offer them.

The kind of impact I want to have is not invasive. I don't want to change people; I want to leave them free to do what they want, just as I am trying to have an impact on my own little corner of Eden by keeping everything more or less the same, and letting the plants and animals change themselves.

My cherries continue to bloom.

Another cherry blossom

The pear blossoms started to open today, too.

pear blossoms on the first pear tree

Then there is the other pear tree with its half open buds.

By the fence there is a wild impostor trying to pass for a fruit tree. What is this flowering bush called?

Service berry?

Is it the elusive wild pear, otherwise known as the service berry? I always get a little confused when I see them, they look so much like a cultivated fruit tree blossom, only smaller.

peach blossoms against cloudy sky

It's the peach blossoms that have been open the longest now and are beginning to look blowsy against the darkening, stormy sky.

I write for impact, more than income, although income would be welcome. I publish for impact, more than sales, but sales would be nice --  I would not mind. I do research, to find answers. If the answers help someone else, that would make me very happy.

I don't want to change people; I want to share ideas. If there is a toxin smuggled  into  our environment that threatens our lives and the developing brains of our children, people have the right to know. Then they can decide for themselves.

I am going to continue working with friends in the area on the problems that the health board addresses, and on other issues that affect our way of life. I can't decide anything for other people. But I will always support their right to decide for themselves.