Grateful

It can't last long. This time of peace and prosperity. The clouds on the horizon tell us something comes. It should not surprise us. A 13 trillion dollar debt; healthcare costs ballooning beyond what we can pay; and an economy that simply doesn't produce...anything, anymore. The good days will not always last.

Its funny to think that while I sit on my rooftop oasis, pool and lush plants nearby. Sun setting over the western edge. Things seem pretty great from up here.

Newspaper articles tell of far away troubles in not so very far away places. "In tent cities, no sign of 'all the money,'" the headline in the Washington Post calls out the crisis in Haiti, 8 months post-earthquake. Another warns, "In Iraq, a precarious time plagued by 'what ifs.'" Alongside the article runs the death toll of the war in Iraq. Three men this week, with an average age of 24, from towns with names like Palmyra, and Newark (Ohio, not Jersey), and Colorado Springs. Men not so very different from me, from hometowns not unlike mine.

No, the troubles aren't so very far away. And they won't stay away from here forever. Under my red and white beach towel, on my rooftop, by the turquoise pool, it is good for me to remember that. And be grateful. And soak up the goodness now. And prepare for times which may not be so good.

Sent via BlackBerry