Sunday Morning Coffee

A Facebook friend posted a status update that really intrigued me. It was a small news item that I was able to find via Google as follows;

RICHARDTON, N.D. (AP) - A Roman Catholic monastery in North Dakota is putting its ranching operation out to pasture because it lacks monks with cowboy skills.

Abbot Brian Wangler tells The Dickinson Press that ranching has been a part of Assumption Abbey since 1893, when it was in Devil's Lake. He says raising cattle helped make the monastery self-sufficient.

He says two monks now care for 260 cows at the Richardton abbey, but only one has the skills to do it by himself...

Wangler says the abbey will rent its pastures to other ranchers.

Monastic cowboys? On some level, but I'm not sure which one, I find this fascinating. It strikes me not only as multidimensional but dimensions that are radically different from each other.

During the spring I mentioned my involvement with the Prescott Basin Ops Group which does the planning for the big inter-agency training that is conducted every March (this is a Fire Department thing). One of the guys also involved in the Planning Group is a retired law enforcement officer and current volunteer (very actively involved) with another department in the area. A couple of weeks ago we went into town to hear/see the local steel drum band (kind of a big deal here) and there was my colleague from the Planning Group having at it on the steel drums.

Turns out he and his wife (more his wife) founded the group. Retired sheriff and steel drum enthusiast would seem to me to be radically different dimensions which I think is a great thing in terms of living a full life and staying engaged.

While this post is not stock market related I do think time spent on other things can sharpen critical thinking skills that are needed for long term portfolio success.