Hey Jakey,

Happy day after the longest day of the year. It truly is cause for celebration. We've now begun our slow-motion descent into winter. Yay! The days are getting shorter and I can almost smell the snow now!

My usual route home was closed down today, for a few days at best, for weeks at the worst. So I had to go the long way around, over a mountain pass, through a lovely little valley, crossing the big river several times. It's a beautiful drive, though a bit out of the way, a picture postcard view at every turn. I kept thinking that you better not take living in this area for granted. And I'm not just talking about the mountains and the aspens and the rushing river and all that. Once you climb down off the mountain and head out toward our little desert hamlet, the landscape is just as beautiful. Not what you'd think a desert would look like at all. This time of year, we're surrounded by undulating green fields, rivulets of snow-melt water criss-crossing the valley floor, big bushy stands of trees.

Not everyone's this lucky, sweetie. We could live in Darfur, or downtown New Orleans, or -- or... a tiny town in southern Texas that shall remain unnamed.

It's inevitable, though, baby. You'll be jaded. I grew up in every imaginable seaport around the world, but thought that every kid did the same, and never realized how lucky I was until I was older.

Stopped at Izzy's on the way home and brought home burgers for dinner. Ugh, it's 1 in the morning and I'm still trying to digest. I've been eating sensibly for the past few days, even "exercising" a bit (taking you out for a stroll in the evenings, about a mile out and a mile back), but one large Slurpee and a bacon & cheddar burger later, it all flew out the window. Ah, well. Tomorrow's another day, fiddle dee dee and all that crap. Heh, didn't Scarlett also say "As God is my witness, I shall never be hungry again!" while she shook her fist at the sky?

Anyway, just trying to put some kind of spin on an otherwise boringly routine day. Love you!