It’s already the middle of January. The holidays were good this year. With snow and rain and the business lull I had time to appreciate my family and my good fortune. One of my colleagues spoke of “returning to reality,” when he came back to work, but I like to think that reality is big enough to include all the disparate pieces of our lives. I want the places where I’m loved to be a big part of my reality.

With most of my crew laid-off, there is plenty to do at the survey office. I have a backlog of old maps that need to be recorded; particularly in Placer County, where the map-checkers have had a field day with some of our submissions, wanting dashed lines instead of continuous lines and scrutinizing survey methodology. It does feel good to get these old projects complete even if it doesn’t provide any income.

We are into a January thaw now, and as usual, when the rain stops the phone has started ringing again. I was providing wellhead elevations in Placerville yesterday and Jon and I are up to Camptonville today to run some property lines. We have a little flurry of small jobs going and are bidding on some larger projects for next summer that may or may not happen.

Running a business of any kind is always a challenge and it definitely requires flexibility. I don’t believe that the economic issues facing California Survey Company are fundamentally any different than those faced by Bechtel or Halliburton or Citibank, except that the numbers are a lot smaller. Standing in line for money from Washington is a stupid idea all the way around unless it is actual payment for doing good work, restoration or beneficial public works or growing food.

Americans should surely be buying something for all the money we are putting out now, at the very least, good home loans and good cars or public transportation. The truth is that the economy always fluctuates. Investments increase and decrease and people make money and lose money, but we are still here. I, for one am grateful for the quiet times, for the space to breathe and appreciate life, appreciate reality. There is still work to do, good work, that benefits ourselves and our children and our communities.