Monday perspective

It's Monday, I'm back in town after a weekend back in my home town area with family and friends. I might not have a truly fresh perspective on things, but just enough to have revealed a few insights.

First, even though my farm in the hills is only two hours away, having been absent since Christmas is not a good idea. Even a close knit family begins to seem like they are going in strange directions or doing things that surprise you. Of course, there's also the capacity for positive surprise as well, as with the incredible progress my nephew is achieving with his metalsmithing and jewelry making career. From motorhead to gunsmith to engraver and now he's forming sophisticated, costly works in a few short months where most pros take years to reach that point. I've already told him to plan to be here for Art on the Square in 2010.

Being out of town for two days sets me up to look at everything a little closer to make sure nothing changed while I was away. Nonsense, yes, I know. But I'm sure we all do it on some level. And if something did change it looks as if it was for the better.

While I was in Mount Airy, the nearest thing to a home town for this farm boy, I was pleased to see that there were few empty store fronts on Main Street since I was last there. The local paper had recently run a feature on new businesses and found that the majority of the business owners were under 40 years of age. That's a great thing to find!

So yes, it's Monday. Time to get back to the grind with a smile. Even on a cloudy wet Monday.