I went out for a walk on Monday night. I went around to the water front and went out on the dock and once out there I looked back at the shore line and I saw fire. So on my way back in I stopped off at my neighbor's house where the fire was. This neighbor is a home builder. He built my home and lived in it with his family for a few years and then sold it to me at a discount because he liked my children and he knew our kids would play together and I'm always appreciative of that. I went back into his yard which overlooks the marsh and I saw the fire. It was underbrush which he had gathered from his property and it was burning in a fire that was easily about ten feet square. So I said, jesus Stephen, that's a big fire for a Monday night. He said, yea...i was pissed off today so I came home early and cleaned up the brush and now I'm burning it. He said he got his financials in from his accountant and they were so bad that he couldn't even show them to his bank for fear they'd call in his loans. He said, are you feeling the pressure now? I said hell yes. Interest rates are so high, my lenders won't give me money for even rock solid deals cause they can return better in more secure markets. I lost three major deals late last year because of it. But the rates are lowering some. Stephen said, yea and I could feel it immediately. He said, I'm going to tell my kids to get a job in a company when they grow up so the get these paid vacations and these 401ks and things. This self employment is a bitch. I said, you're right. It's a bitch. You always have time but you can never rest. I said to him that I've been reading some email from some music friends wanting to go the other way, to get out of their jobs. He said, they should see it from this side for a while. So he said, you want a beer? I said, no. I've got to go. It's after 9 and I'd like to tuck the kids in and Cheryl will think I fell off the dock. He said, come on, have a beer. I said, Stephen, I can't. I need to go. He said, I know. It's late. But if you change your mind, come back, the size of that fire means I'll be here for a few hours. And when I got around the corner I could tell it was really cold away from the fire and when I put my hands in my pockets I could still feel the warmth in my clothes from where I was facing the heat. And I thought, I never sat down and I never took off my coat. But!!! I did stop by to warm myself, even if it was just for 15 minutes. So ....that's better than nothing. "I'm a burning hearth," he said "People see the smoke But no-one comes to warm themselves Sloughing off a coat patrick np. dmb-what would you say
