I think accomplishments reward me.
Frankly there is no reward great enough to recompense a person for the amount of effort they put into a project. For example, why blog? Is it because someone rewards you? Of course not. Most of us blog to communicate with the world, to share what’s happening that’s important to us. My last blog told the story of Bob’s old barn, I fell in love with it just in time – it’s coming down. It was rewarding to take pictures and tell the story.
I took the picture below of this same path Saturday on my way home from Visalia. It has changed. History is all about change. Today it looks like this.
This crane cleared out olive trees, and the barn will come down soon to make way for a new field of fruit trees.
Today I met with a friend, Laile Di Silvestro, today who is helping me heal a sick and injured website for San Joaquin Valley Council for the Social Studies. My reward for the three and a half hours that we labored is a website that works a little better, a closer relationship with a talented and generous person, and – totally unrelated, but I’m counting it as a reward – beautiful weather giving me scenery to photograph.
Seriously, you’d think it was mid-summer in Montana to look at that sky. It’s a bit chilly, but not enough to deter anyone. We’ve all been praying for rain. That would be a reward.
A few of these clouds rewarded us with a light drizzle, but not much rain. Most of our water comes from wells pumped from underground aquifers or nearby irrigations ditches.
These pumps may not look beautiful, but water is a huge reward.
And we are rewarded by food, not only for us but for the cows that provide one of my favorite foods – cheese. Tulare County is one of the largest dairy producing counties in the world. We probably have more cows here than we have people. Most of them live near Visalia and Hanford in large dairies of up to 5,000 cows. Talk about a lot of work. If you don’t like cheese, it might not seem like such a great reward, but I love it.
This is the dairy I used to pass everyday on my way to and from work.
Those cows probably aren’t praying for rain, but I’m guessing that the people who live in this house on that dairy farm are. I hope they get their reward. 🙂
For more entries about rewards click here.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
At least the barn & it’s surrounding are being replaces with fruit trees & not buildings or non-nature stuff.
LikeLiked by 1 person
True enough. We have one land owner who wants to turn his orange grove into 160 houses. No one is very happy about that one. He has to go back to the drawing board and do a full environmental impact study. The planning commission turned him down flat. Yeah!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good post, Marsha. I think rewards are so different for each one of us. I’m really sad that old barn has to come down. Great that you got some pics of it for posterity. 🙂 xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
How true. I think the important thing is that we find rewards for ourselves internally. If we don’t we are going to ride a tempest of public opinion. That’s not to say that what others think of us is not important because it is. Otherwise we sail off on our own losing touch with reality doing whatever is right in our own eyes. It’s a balance. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sometimes a very fine balance, and we can fall off the tightrope at times. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well said Marsha. I think as we age we become more aware of the rewards within and also of the pleasure gained from the small things in our lives. For me, a personal accomplishment is the greatest reward. Your friendship is also a wonderful reward I’ve gained over the last few years. Blogging is a wonderful thing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree 100%. I am blessed by your friendship, and amazed at your life and all the things you do and your girls do as well. 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, indeed! Blogging – any kind of writing is best done for its own sake and is always its own reward. To get positive responses from others is always a bonus of course.
And you can have some of Scotland’s rain – we have gallons and gallons of the stuff. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s why you are the Emerald Island. Our water table has dropped hundreds of feet in the last 60 years or so. This is water that can’t be replaced by rainwater, not that we get much of that either. We may be importing it from you at some point. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that often the accomplishment is the reward. Doing something well, or at least to the best of my ability, gives me a sense or reward, even if no one else takes notice. Most of the world is too busy navel gazing to take notice of what others do, so if you want a sense of reward you’ll likely have to find it within.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How true, Cotton. And you do a wonderful job blogging. You’re one of the best history writers out there – in my humble opinion.
LikeLike
Thanks, Marsha. I appreciate your kind words. You do a wonderful job of writing about the world around you. Your posts make me want to take a trip back to California to visit the Sacramento and Salinas valleys – even though those aren’t your particular areas. I suppose they all have commonalities that I can sense in your posts about Tulare County.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s true. I think there’s a touch of rural in Sacramento, though not much urban in our area – Woodlake more than Visalia and Fresno. Those folks would disagree with me. We have towns close enough. I’ve always been a city girl before we moved to California. The good news is that people are people everywhere, and we all can blossom whereever we go, if we want to do so. With the advent of the internet, we attract people to us from all over the world, and they become a huge part of our world, and our setting enlarges even though it’s flatter without sounds, smells etc.. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well said! Yes we have to find our own rewards in daily living- certainly a published blog post is a reward! Whether it’s read or not, I always feel I’ve accomplished something. And a blue sky.. and more. Thanks!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Lisa. We all need to take the time to read each other’s blogs. It is hard to do. Hard to find time to read or write, but so important. 🙂 Thanks for being my friend. 🙂
LikeLike
I agree with you, we don’t blog for money, I blog for the fun and friendship with other bloggers.
Besides, the Italians don’t understand my humour so my blog is my escape….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cute. I’ll have to test it on my husband. His humor is sometimes a little difficult for me!
LikeLike