American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God. Hats off the parents of the Virginian kin! They are raising children who are & will be happy….and survive & thrive in the worst conditions. I’m blessed with some grandchildren like them. I still remember my own childhood when we all worked, ate, shared, worshiped together. .. and still do two generations later.
It is amazing to me that you, Bill, have somehow not let your great wealth make you an asshole. You have strong values of family and work ethic. You like to 'do things' with your hands. You like to converse with those around you. I think you genuinely like people and their quirks.
Think back: what made you as you are today?
Now, ask yourself what has made so many of our youth as they are?
I have been reading your adventures for years now. It is as if I know you.
Thank you for your refreshing view of life. You have spent your time on earth well and done little harm during your time.
I had the opportunity to take a 3 day road trip with a very wealthy man (he had even been kidnapped for ransom once!). He was old and I was young, and he needed a driver to deliver an “airport car” to a vacation house near the Canadian border. I guess he went went with me to make visits along the way. He was much like Bill appears to be. I asked the old guy what it was like to be rich and I still remember the answer: Basically, that it was a great responsibility to not screw things up. Wealth was power, and many people depended on him for their livelihood.
I would have liked to know Bill before he was wealthy and seen what he was like and what helped him prosper. Owning valuable places all over there world is interesting. Inherited? Or gained through investing smarts? Like to read his biography someday if he writes it. Otherwise we have to settle for these gems here in BPR.
Your description of your Virginia teenage kin made me think I was reading history not current events. Here in suburban Seattle every teenager I have encountered or heard tell of in the past 20 years is identical to your description of their French counterparts. They are screen junkies and know not how to do anything else. A few years ago I put in a back yard for a friend and had the (reluctant) assistance of her son. I was 60 and he 17. It was a long day for both of us and I could tell that he hated every minute of it. I knew this was his first exposure to real work in his entire life. We were still working in the dark and when the job was done he was near exhaustive collapse. Mind you this kid was athletic, muscular and slim - a swimmer. Aside from swimming it had been all screen time his entire life. They are allergic to hard word and learning new things. What will the future look like with them running the word? Let us hope those Virginia farm kids have lots and lots of babies.
I was referring to to farm parents of farm babies, and yes I do hope the babies are like the parents, hence the hope for lots of them. As for the suburbanites, agree there is not much hope for them.
Great stuff today! I can relate with the Virginians, as I live in Goshen, VA on a 94 acre Farm in remote Shenandoah Valley, except I love drinking your wine! It is a small farm farming community, with hard working folks with not much income. However, they will give you the shirt off of their back should you need it! Pot luck family gatherings every Sunday and corn-hole competition. Clean air, quiet, stars and no mosquitoes! 💙
How are the property taxes there. Mine in our Kansas town have gone through the roof. Not on a farm though. Maybe I can classify my orchard of apple trees (8) a farm? 🤔
I have contested them a few times and sometimes I won but mostly I lost. They use a formula here and even though the State legislature is overwhelmingly GOP and they have tried to change it and reduce taxes the democratic governor has vetoed the bill each time. When they tried to override the veto and give some of the excess $ back to the taxpayers they couldn’t override it as the governor wants to spend the billion $ excess.
We had Brownback as governor years ago and he was so negatively portrayed (R) that the people have been electing democrats for governor ever since. Mostly the Johnson county (suburb of KC) has gone blue, but the rural counties are Red and why the legislature is red. Fortunately the high property taxes have hit the suburbs and pressure has mounted to change it if you want to keep your legislative seat.
I like it , I love it...we need some more of it!...as my last breath is being taken I'm sure thoughts of good times like those, will flow thru my consciousness in anticipation of celebrations unimaginable.
As the world goes bonkers, life goes on. Us proles should focus on living the good life now and helping our families/communities develop and bond. When the SHTF, what is going to count is families and communities. The government(s) will be nowhere to be found. Gone like the wind. Chateau life in France can be a community - at least at Chateau Bonner. Each doing his/her part. Good to focus on a community again as opposed to trying to figure out the delusionals who think their are running the world. Good post for Friday, Monsieur Bonner. Great way to start the weekend!
Well hells bells ! You must be older than me. Maybe you would enjoy Psalms 37 or perhaps re-reading it. I read it frequently when I become anxious (not so much anymore but just to be reminded of the promises when things seem to be so dismal). The was the mantra of my grandfather and father in the Great Depression.
I was born in a clapboard shack in the Boston Hills of Okla. Jan 1931. I don't believe anything in the Bible could have been a mantra for my family in those trying times.
This story gives us assurance that there is nothing wrong with the world. Everything we hear about: economy, wars, killings, attacks, terrorist, Europe, America, Middle East, World War, disease, hunger…ect, ALL FAKE FABRICATED LIES.
There is a new form of torture being implemented in the 3rd basement of The Pentagon, they hog tie you and force you to listen to a never ending recording of Kamala Harris laughing until you crap your pants. True, it’s sad and inhumane, but it works.
The American Savior, President Trump will rebuild the world’s temple in 7 days.
I got a meme from a friend a few days ago. The caption read: A Decision Was Made Here.
The meme pic was of a liquor store shelf that had been well picked over with an unopened full 1/2 gallon of milk left behind on the shelf among the remains liquor bottles.
I am anxious to hear about the West coast kids. Or will that cause dissension in the family and better left unsaid. Sad to hear how the French people are so entitled, USA is going full speed in that direction. 😫
Yup - we live in two Countries, compliments of our "leaders" and "media." An amicable split would be the prudent thing to attempt at this point.
Unfortunately the communists/dimocrats/non-productive will never let the golden goose red team escape without a fight. So sadly, I predict they will get what they so desire, but the outcome won't be anything like they envision...
Soon enough, (maybe) there can be a bit of live TV news in the vicinity of 41°52′50″N 87°40′27″W Near West Side ‘hood in Chicago.
Maybe, some armchair entertainment will reveal how close 2024’s Mayor Johnson compares to 1968’s (12-on-12-off) Daley; and whether or not there’s a 68Redux’s offspring of the Chicago 8 (or 7) that can match the amusement theme of Rubin, Ginsberg, cohorts which arrived with a mascot to best Pigasus, and the yippies, SDS, WSP and (bonus) if a band like MC5 (a.k.a. Motor City 5) will show up to perform in the haze of CN & CS clouds.
Love the pictures. Definitely a farm boy…unshielded grinder wheel, no face protection (glasses don’t count if the wheel separates), chin whiskers inches from the wheel, but old and all ten fingers!
Great story that brings back memories of visiting my grandmother in a rich farming community near Fukuoka, Japan every summer in August and at the end of the year. Everyone was expected to help out. We were still poor and valued honest work.
I was very fortunate to experience two cultures in my childhood, Japan and the US. To be honest, I wonder whether you would like to go to school in Japan. Classrooms, bathrooms and others are cleaned by the students themselves, even in wealthy private schools. We share the same lunch regardless of your needs and preferences. The good thing is that cleaning is considered a sort of an art and we learn to eat nutritious food.
American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God. Hats off the parents of the Virginian kin! They are raising children who are & will be happy….and survive & thrive in the worst conditions. I’m blessed with some grandchildren like them. I still remember my own childhood when we all worked, ate, shared, worshiped together. .. and still do two generations later.
Bill, that's a great story of the mindsets between people from different parts of the country. I prefer the folks from Virginia.
Jim Marshall
I’m from California and I sincerely appreciate your nice well taught, and positively led family from Virginia.
It is amazing to me that you, Bill, have somehow not let your great wealth make you an asshole. You have strong values of family and work ethic. You like to 'do things' with your hands. You like to converse with those around you. I think you genuinely like people and their quirks.
Think back: what made you as you are today?
Now, ask yourself what has made so many of our youth as they are?
I have been reading your adventures for years now. It is as if I know you.
Thank you for your refreshing view of life. You have spent your time on earth well and done little harm during your time.
I had the opportunity to take a 3 day road trip with a very wealthy man (he had even been kidnapped for ransom once!). He was old and I was young, and he needed a driver to deliver an “airport car” to a vacation house near the Canadian border. I guess he went went with me to make visits along the way. He was much like Bill appears to be. I asked the old guy what it was like to be rich and I still remember the answer: Basically, that it was a great responsibility to not screw things up. Wealth was power, and many people depended on him for their livelihood.
I would have liked to know Bill before he was wealthy and seen what he was like and what helped him prosper. Owning valuable places all over there world is interesting. Inherited? Or gained through investing smarts? Like to read his biography someday if he writes it. Otherwise we have to settle for these gems here in BPR.
Your description of your Virginia teenage kin made me think I was reading history not current events. Here in suburban Seattle every teenager I have encountered or heard tell of in the past 20 years is identical to your description of their French counterparts. They are screen junkies and know not how to do anything else. A few years ago I put in a back yard for a friend and had the (reluctant) assistance of her son. I was 60 and he 17. It was a long day for both of us and I could tell that he hated every minute of it. I knew this was his first exposure to real work in his entire life. We were still working in the dark and when the job was done he was near exhaustive collapse. Mind you this kid was athletic, muscular and slim - a swimmer. Aside from swimming it had been all screen time his entire life. They are allergic to hard word and learning new things. What will the future look like with them running the word? Let us hope those Virginia farm kids have lots and lots of babies.
And you think their babies will be different from their parents??? Wishful thinking I believe.
I was referring to to farm parents of farm babies, and yes I do hope the babies are like the parents, hence the hope for lots of them. As for the suburbanites, agree there is not much hope for them.
Hey, I resemble that Brien! 🙂😂🤣
lol, acorns do not fall far from the tree 😂
Great stuff today! I can relate with the Virginians, as I live in Goshen, VA on a 94 acre Farm in remote Shenandoah Valley, except I love drinking your wine! It is a small farm farming community, with hard working folks with not much income. However, they will give you the shirt off of their back should you need it! Pot luck family gatherings every Sunday and corn-hole competition. Clean air, quiet, stars and no mosquitoes! 💙
How are the property taxes there. Mine in our Kansas town have gone through the roof. Not on a farm though. Maybe I can classify my orchard of apple trees (8) a farm? 🤔
Tiasso… your taxes in Kansas!
as I’m sure you know you can always contest them. My taxes in rural Colorado (which i contested) went down 90%.
I have contested them a few times and sometimes I won but mostly I lost. They use a formula here and even though the State legislature is overwhelmingly GOP and they have tried to change it and reduce taxes the democratic governor has vetoed the bill each time. When they tried to override the veto and give some of the excess $ back to the taxpayers they couldn’t override it as the governor wants to spend the billion $ excess.
We had Brownback as governor years ago and he was so negatively portrayed (R) that the people have been electing democrats for governor ever since. Mostly the Johnson county (suburb of KC) has gone blue, but the rural counties are Red and why the legislature is red. Fortunately the high property taxes have hit the suburbs and pressure has mounted to change it if you want to keep your legislative seat.
I like it , I love it...we need some more of it!...as my last breath is being taken I'm sure thoughts of good times like those, will flow thru my consciousness in anticipation of celebrations unimaginable.
As the world goes bonkers, life goes on. Us proles should focus on living the good life now and helping our families/communities develop and bond. When the SHTF, what is going to count is families and communities. The government(s) will be nowhere to be found. Gone like the wind. Chateau life in France can be a community - at least at Chateau Bonner. Each doing his/her part. Good to focus on a community again as opposed to trying to figure out the delusionals who think their are running the world. Good post for Friday, Monsieur Bonner. Great way to start the weekend!
The first and biggest "purifier" will be when conditions become such that "You don't work, you don't eat."
They'll begin dropping by the millions, starting mostly with those under 30 years old...
You don't work, you don't eat. Is exactly what my mother told me 90 years ago.
Well hells bells ! You must be older than me. Maybe you would enjoy Psalms 37 or perhaps re-reading it. I read it frequently when I become anxious (not so much anymore but just to be reminded of the promises when things seem to be so dismal). The was the mantra of my grandfather and father in the Great Depression.
I was born in a clapboard shack in the Boston Hills of Okla. Jan 1931. I don't believe anything in the Bible could have been a mantra for my family in those trying times.
My father was born on 20th April 1933 Bracknell England, Hitlers birth date.
Is there a town associated with the Boston Hills of Okla
Or county.. I have lived in Oklahoma since 1983 & travelled in all counties more frequently as a quail hunter.
Stillwell, Okla. Up to 1903 , the Indian Territory .
Thats the way it should be these days, the government will take it from the workers and give it to the bums.
This post resonates with me having grown up in south central Virginia, Cumberland County
My cousin and I agree one of the least changed places in America during our lifetime
We grew up believing progress is about self improvement not wishing the world was different.
Thank you, Bill. I am a former Virginian and work is fun. It keeps the mind and hands busy.
A harty second your sentiment Shirley. Well said 💯
This story gives us assurance that there is nothing wrong with the world. Everything we hear about: economy, wars, killings, attacks, terrorist, Europe, America, Middle East, World War, disease, hunger…ect, ALL FAKE FABRICATED LIES.
There is a new form of torture being implemented in the 3rd basement of The Pentagon, they hog tie you and force you to listen to a never ending recording of Kamala Harris laughing until you crap your pants. True, it’s sad and inhumane, but it works.
The American Savior, President Trump will rebuild the world’s temple in 7 days.
I got a meme from a friend a few days ago. The caption read: A Decision Was Made Here.
The meme pic was of a liquor store shelf that had been well picked over with an unopened full 1/2 gallon of milk left behind on the shelf among the remains liquor bottles.
Cheers, and let us always have choices,
Mark
With a MASSIVE “T” on the front…for “Temple” of course! 😂
I am anxious to hear about the West coast kids. Or will that cause dissension in the family and better left unsaid. Sad to hear how the French people are so entitled, USA is going full speed in that direction. 😫
Good show ol Chap, no blame today.
RALPH W.
Yup - we live in two Countries, compliments of our "leaders" and "media." An amicable split would be the prudent thing to attempt at this point.
Unfortunately the communists/dimocrats/non-productive will never let the golden goose red team escape without a fight. So sadly, I predict they will get what they so desire, but the outcome won't be anything like they envision...
Soon enough, (maybe) there can be a bit of live TV news in the vicinity of 41°52′50″N 87°40′27″W Near West Side ‘hood in Chicago.
Maybe, some armchair entertainment will reveal how close 2024’s Mayor Johnson compares to 1968’s (12-on-12-off) Daley; and whether or not there’s a 68Redux’s offspring of the Chicago 8 (or 7) that can match the amusement theme of Rubin, Ginsberg, cohorts which arrived with a mascot to best Pigasus, and the yippies, SDS, WSP and (bonus) if a band like MC5 (a.k.a. Motor City 5) will show up to perform in the haze of CN & CS clouds.
One never knows.
M
Love the pictures. Definitely a farm boy…unshielded grinder wheel, no face protection (glasses don’t count if the wheel separates), chin whiskers inches from the wheel, but old and all ten fingers!
Truly a summer to remember!
Great story that brings back memories of visiting my grandmother in a rich farming community near Fukuoka, Japan every summer in August and at the end of the year. Everyone was expected to help out. We were still poor and valued honest work.
I was very fortunate to experience two cultures in my childhood, Japan and the US. To be honest, I wonder whether you would like to go to school in Japan. Classrooms, bathrooms and others are cleaned by the students themselves, even in wealthy private schools. We share the same lunch regardless of your needs and preferences. The good thing is that cleaning is considered a sort of an art and we learn to eat nutritious food.
I have been following Bill for way over 20 yrs, to me he is a modern day philosopher, I have learn a lot from him he has joined the dots for me.