I’m in a post-Thanksgiving lull watching the sun go down on a mild November day, reflecting on publishing this last issue of the year of Landscape Management. What a year it was! There is plenty to be thankful for. The people I met, the places I saw and the opportunities offered.
Professionally, this year I made 19 business trips: 17 here in the States, one to Canada and unbelievably, one to Italy (I invite you to check out my complete recap of the Aces Wild peer group’s trip to Tuscany, Italy). We fired out 52 LMDirect! e-newsletters, many with industry exclusives. I hosted seminars at Equip Exposition; I ran like crazy at Elevate. I saw demonstrations of all sorts of new and exciting products for the industry.
Personally, I took a few family vacations, most to south Texas to visit my ailing father-in-law. I took my daughter on her first college recruiting visit. I coached my son’s fifth- and sixth-grade soccer team and watched him lead the team in scoring.
Sadly, I gave two eulogies, one for my father-in-law and the other for my wife’s grandma. But happily, I also gave what I’d like to think was a legendary toast at Thanksgiving.
With the food rapidly cooling off (it took a few minutes for everyone to make their plate and get to the dining room), I kept it brief.
“I’m so happy you’re all here, and I’m so thankful for our family. Cheers.”
My wife’s aunt asked, “That’s it?” Her husband replied, “I heard ‘thankful’ and I heard ‘cheers.’ That’s all I need! Let’s eat!”
As someone who is known in the family to be a writer and a speaker, I could see Aunt Lupe’s surprise. But sometimes, it’s best to be brief.
Like that turkey and stuffing, there is a lot of great content in this issue I want you to hurry up and get to, including our State of the Industry Report and our Battery Powered Guide. I also want to thank the crew at The Greenery in South Carolina for posing for our cover photo. It was an idea we kicked around for eight months and finally pulled off as a nice cover showing the strength of our industry — the people in it.
I hope you get a break during the month of December and can look back at all the incredible work your team accomplished in 2023. That’s what I’m going to do … once I get through these last three business trips (San Antonio for the Irrigation Show, Orlando for the LM Growth Summit and Cleveland for the North Coast Media holiday party.)
It’ll be cold here, but I’ll watch another beautiful rural northeast Kansas sunset and I’ll again raise a glass and say, “I’m thankful for you all … cheers.”
