Dear reader, I hope you're having a beautiful day. The season will be changing soon...well, not so much in the desert, but elsewhere. It changes here, too, in subtler ways. You have to go outside often to notice the details, something I love about this place.
We just got back from a trip to the beach, an incredibly fun chance to connect with loved ones as summer begins to wind down and the thought of going back to school becomes a little less abstract. While there I was asked several times about living in Las Vegas and it left me feeling, as if often does, slightly confused about my response. First off, I must say it was a tough question to field as I looked out over the glorious blue ocean, the heat of the desert still fresh in my mind. It has always unnerved me how some people can gush on about their love for where they live while I must find my way to it haltingly, like a child groping about in the dark. It seems small and ungrateful, and that shames me.
It's true some places are easier to love than others...but I've noticed some people are more easily content, as well.
If I had a choice between living exactly where I wanted or being more easily content, I hope I would choose to be more easily content. Since no one has offered me that choice, I'm left to work on the option that's within my control. This is what I think of, then, when someone asks if I like living in Las Vegas: nature's changing details that require a careful eye to behold, the desert's particular beauties, my family and friends who live here, Sprouts and Ramen Sora, the International Market, the library, the reptile store, winter weather, trail runs, and the pang of happiness in my heart when I hear my children call this place home.
It seems there's no end to my love of these things.
I'm sending my very best wishes, dear reader. I hope it comes easily to love where you are, no matter where that is. I hope you have a good dinner tonight, a pleasant conversation, and perhaps the time to enjoy a walk. I hope you see a mesmerizing shape in the clouds, or stop to watch the sunset. I hope all of this and more...a million beautiful details, with the eye to see them all.