Sentimental Surveying

In 1981, not long after receiving PLS licensure, single and broke, I surveyed a land grant section originally surveyed in 1823.?ÿ I found an old buggy axle at the northeast corner. It stuck up about 2 feet above the ground, deep in the woods. I tied flagging on it and used it as the POB of a 60-acre tract that I surveyed with my 20-second Gurley.?ÿ Yesterday afternoon, about 40 years later at age 69, I went to that same point to resurvey and subdivide the 60-acre tract.?ÿ The buggy axle was still there with many layers of survey ribbon wrapped around the top.?ÿ It was a beautiful cool day with no wind.?ÿ I stood there and looked at that buggy axle for a while thinking about my mood in 1981 when I found it, my worries about being able to make a living on my own, my wonderful marriage which came about 4 years after that, the development of my career and business, my three daughters who are grown and gone, and all of the water that went under the bridge. It affected me. I always tried to smell the roses, but I am going to smell harder.