Sunrise!

As a result of an unquiet night, we took our morning walk earlier than usual today.  It was so lovely!  Walking along the dry track looking at the clouds over Mt. Charleston; the rays of sun climbing over the cloud; the slow lighting up of the Nopah mountains to our west.  Absolutely beautiful.  Did I have my camera?  Hell no!  Of course not.  There was the smell of rain in the air but it would be pretty surprising if we got any here; the mountains are probably getting some though.  (Here's a pic from a walk last year about this time.)

It's kind of funny but this whole area is a flood plain.  You climb over the pass from Las Vegas and here is a sign proclaiming a flash flood area for the next X miles.  In fact, our house is in a flood zone and our mortgage requires that we have flood insurance.  It strikes me as kind of funny since in Florida our house was at an elevation of about 12 feet (say 4 meters) about 10 miles(16 km) from the ocean and it wasn't required there. 

As usual, we've got a quiet day planned.  The highlight will probably be washing the car.  How's that for life in the fast lane?  Speaking of "Life"; I really enjoyed the post on Random Roger this morning.  He's talking about the importance of taking responsibility for your life.  He's had a couple posts recently that generated comments about his insensitivity to people's problems.  I don't find him insensitive at all.  He, and I, are strong proponents of living below your means.  That means that we have a Toyota not another BMW; we have a travel trailer not a diesel pusher motorhome; we have basic cable tv not every extra channel you can imagine. 

This is how we have always lived.  When we were working, we always lived in a house that either of us could afford if the other lost his/her job.  We are intelligent people (well, give me a break!) and were working in exciting positions for strong companies but you never know what's around the corner.  I have every compassion for someone who has been crushed by the world:  I know there are people who had a moderate mortgage, a good job, a happy life but things just all went sideways and now they are homeless, jobless and crazed.  I have none for someone who bought a house they couldn't possibly afford or who thinks the world owes them a living or who thinks relationships are painless. 

I kind of think being an atheist gives me an advantage here:  there isn't any super being out there who cares about me.  It's all my problem and all my solution.  Of course, having parents who had lived through the great depression (the 1930 one!) helped too.  The news is full of 'the new consumer' who ISN'T buying everything in sight; those folks who saw that depression didn't buy a lot of crap they didn't need either.  And, you know, that sunrise this morning was so absolutely beautiful, so priceless and it didn't cost a dime.  Go smell the roses folks.

Have a good one.