At Last: Spring, and That Feeling of "Gaining on it!"

As a few of the long-time visitors to this page are aware, we've been struggling with tax bills for a long time. As the old truism goes: "Only two things in life are inevitable: Death and Taxes!"

Our infamous property tax bill is due in about a week, and I finally feel like we're gaining on it. Although I'm sad that I've had to power down most of my Steem, the good in that is that we will still have a place to live... and it's going to get easier from here on, because there are certain benefits to being "older" in our state — meaning 60, or more — and those are going to kick in, in the not too distant future.

As often as not, the feeling that I am "gaining on it" works as much on the psychological level as it works on the tangible level. It's one thing to get the actual taxes paid, but there's also the psychological burden I get to set down when I hold that bill, stamped "PAID," in my hand.

I think we sometimes underestimate the "weight" of the psychological burdens we carry around. But we shouldn't. When people talk about "stress at work," it's so often the psychology that's causing the problem. The work, itself, might not be the greatest, but the fact that our boss is like a grenade with the pin perpetually pulled can be far more stressful than the tedium of the work, or tight deadlines.

Not being under quite as much stress tends to give me a brighter outlook on life!

Spring is here, and soon we will start working on our vegetable garden for 2022. One of the ways we help ourselves get by is to grow a substantial portion of our own food. Between mid-May and the end of October we almost never have to buy vegetables, and even during the winter months we have large stocks in the big freezer we keep in our garage.

2023 will be the final year we have a "large" property tax bill, and I'm already in the planning stages of how we're going to manage that one. Of course, cryptocurrency will be part of the solution, although I hope I won't have to power down my Steemit account again! This year was just unfortunate in the sense that the first three months of the year were so bad for the markets.

Of course, we are also hopeful that the loosening of the Covid restrictions will be permanent, so we can go back to having our creative income. A large part of our struggle has been that Mrs. Denmarkguy and I both have creative things we do... and normally sell at festivals and arts and crafts fairs. But ALL those event have been canceled since the beginning of 2020... meaning we lost thousands of dollars a year in sideline income.

So, in a couple of weeks I will start the process of rebuilding this account... how long it will take me to get it back where it was before... well, that remains to be seen!

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about YOU? Are you happy spring is here? Or do you not live somewhere with significant seasons? Of course, if you live down under... it's about to become fall — are you sad to see the end of summer, or are cooler days a welcome change? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20220322 23:01 PST
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