The On Ramp

The On Ramp. This my entrance into blog world, my on ramp, so to speak. I pull onto this information superhighway with a story. Her name was Mrs. James Ellliot. This is how she preferred to be addressed formally, but she was just Mrs. Elliot to me. I was her gardener for two years while working my way through seminary in Marin County, CA in the late 80's I would visit her home twice a week, mainly to water her extensive bonsai collection and keep the place tidy. She was a fascinating woman, and at 82, she was in fine health, especially in mind. Part of her morning routine each day was to read the Wall Street Journal front to back, usually about 2 hours to do so. The reason this was important was that Mr. Elliot had left her in charge of his trust funds, three to be exact, and she wanted to be well informed about any investment decisions she would make concerning that very large, most likely, sum of money. In short, she knew how to make money with her money. One day while pruning a very old oak bonsai, she wandered out into the garden to find me. She often would just want to chat a bit or share something she learned that day. "Kevin," she said, "I have been reading about this idea called the 'information superhighway' and I believe they are onto something here. Telecommunications are moving to fiber optic technology and I'm thinking about getting in on it." Of course I had no idea what she was talking about, nor was I that interested because how would that effect me, a poor grad student working for a rich old lady who may never live to see this thing happen. A few weeks later she came outside during my routine of fertilizing the orchids. "I did it, Kevin, I did it!" "You did what?" I asked. "I decided to move some money into companies specializing in fiber optic technology." was her reply, adding, "and I would recommend you do the same." Again, nice idea, but highly unlikely for me. Boy, was I short sighted. Mrs. Elliot was right on the direction of the future, and I probably could have been had I not assumed that I could get in on the action. Had I channeled even a very small amount toward investing in her optimism, who knows what it would have produced. My blog is titled, "From the watchman" because I think I see some things that are coming, just like Mrs. James Elliot of Tiburon, CA. Changes that effect the Church As We Know it. I'm rolling the dice, I'm all in. These are my thoughts. Thanks for reading, watchman