Are you where you live?

At times the irony of where I have chosen to live makes me wonder whether I chose the place or did the place choose me. I have lived in cheap apartments below sea level, a ginger bread house on the beach, and more recently a straw house and a nut house. Makes you wonder.

Here is where I live today:

and a view from the straw house this weekend:

Elections, Economy, Environment. Oh My!

For those of you following the blog, check out the Garden Cam to your left. Great sunsets and every now and then Road Runners.

I also want to take a moment and touch on what is happening in our country these days.

Every time you turn on the news there is bad news. Unemployment is up, consumer spending is down, revelations of fraud has eclipsed the scandals of the 80s and 90s, dogs and cats living together.

Amidst all of this bad news of people losing their jobs, losing their homes, losing their life savings due to people named Hursts, Madoff, and Cosmo, the risk of 'deflation' is not only real but increases with each successive bad quarter.

To illustrate where the economy was and where it is now one need only read this news release from 1/30/2006

"Americans’ personal savings rate dipped into negative territory in 2005, something that hasn’t happened since the Great Depression. Consumers depleted their savings to finance the purchases of cars and other big-ticket items"

Today consumers have not just stopped purchasing big ticket items but are actually putting money into savings. Something that has not consistently happened since the mid-90s.

Perhaps this is the time for all Americans to rethink what it means to be wealthy. Could it be that the accumulation of consumer goods is not the true measurement of wealth?

And on that not I leave you with a few pictures from my newly installed Garden/Sunset Web cam. Have a great week.