THIS CORNER

This Corner Field
There are communities on social media that call themselves 'this corner' as in "On this corner of Twitter....."   I'm too long-winded for 280 characters or other restrictions.  Writing concisely has skill development potential but it also limits depth of presentation.  I usually come close to saying what I intend but need a few more words.  Thus this blog of short essays. 

Any corner must expand market, influence, and nurturance into a natural wild or cultivated field.  The corner is the domain or domicile.  The customers must come from the prosperous citizens of the surrounding region.  

Ma & Pa's Second Hand Store on the corner of Higgins and Alder in Missoula, Montana. It was a commercial and cultural landmark for 20 years. Still remembered today by the locals and some world travelers. Lower left is Flathead Lake at Mulligan Bay on Finley Point. The dock would be completely destroyed by storms every five years or so. This was the last rebuild. Lower right is my uncle Dale at the Lolo ranch. I remember watching the "overshot" wooden poles being levered to raise the hay up. I remember tractor power doing this but Dale was probably overseeing the team of draft horses that my grandfather still used.

I will post something later about the difference between the "beaver slide" and "overshot" catapult style contraptions that stacked hay. The ones left in Montana mostly sit in the fields now like fading museum pieces of a past era.   

A destiny placed my family business at the corner of a formally prosperous but then abandoned district in Missoula, Montana.  The district thrived again as a resource for collectibles from past eras - - both useful and nostalgic.  Enterprise thrived in not only our store, but neighboring shops with the same mission.  I've seen revival that combines the innovative new with the traditional old.  Those were good years.  Competition among shops was friendly and was actually quite cooperative.  If a large number of second hand, antique, and collectible shops thrived in the same business district, that's where crowds of people went.  We had two previous attempts at business in isolated areas and the customer base was low traffic.  How the sudden growth of similar businesses gathered in the same area I don't know.  It seemed like a natural organic happening.  No city or civic planning was involved.

When the people who built this area of commerce became aged, had health problems, and passed away the downtown area again became abandoned and the store fronts stood empty for a number of years.  Now there are offices for architectural firms and a few small pizza shops and I wish them well.  The dynamic traffic of people in motion seems to have stopped however.

For the first time ever, my entrepreneurial efforts don't include family.  I'm on my own.  There are people I respect greatly on my corner of the internet.  You are my people now.  

We are told by the teachers of entrepreneurial magic that every setback comes with a lesson and advantage.  I don't think this rule applies to losing people and I don't think it is meant to.  Fortunes of commerce and well-being are more within this silver lining domain.  Democrat allegiances in my environment caused me to lose my ebay business through adherence to Carona Virusaurus rules.  Things are more allowed now but in the meantime, I started a pdf e-book business.  Ebay was restrictive and unresponsive to shipping difficulty.  I now have my own independent business as a writer and publisher.


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My father building a home in 1953.  Me learning the trade and craft at age four.  The Cosmic is that which is closest to us.