Dog Day Break

Feeling the need to take a walkabout, I requested a couple weeks off. My employer immediately agreed and even bellied up the money for airline tickets and expenses. What a guy! Now, travel should be neither all work nor all pleasure. Variety and balance are the keys to a pleasant experience. Accordingly, I've engaged in some business and dabbled in some fun. Along the way, I've done some work on the Federalist Papers, read a couple of books (one steamy one that makes me wonder if I should be writing porn instead of politics -- some might suggest that the two are not that different), enjoyed hours of engaging and entertaining conversation, and satisfied myself that there is life outside of Welch. I am only half way through my little break and already I am thinking that I would like living in a more urban setting. It is not an intentional thought at this point; rather, it invades my thinking when I am in that setting. I don't necessarily mean Dallas, Kansas City, or Atlanta. But, Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham, perhaps. While I am not a people lover -- I defy any humanist to fly commercially and emerge from that experience with a shred of concern for the fate of his fellow person -- I like the lifestyle that cities afford. I did, after all, train and practice as a city manager. When such thoughts hit me, I usually resort back to my gut feeling that cities are not sustainable. At some point, the doomsayers could be proven right. The only thing that will matter then is land. The question is, then, how much confidence do I have in our ability to overcome energy and environmental challenges? Again, my gut says, we are not. New light bulbs and smart cars are not going to save the planet. We have become accustomed to our lifestyles and nothing short of castrophe will make us change them. Even then, the change will be difficult. How far off is that change? And, how lucky do I feel? Given my age, I might have time to sqeeze out the last little drop of primo urban living before it ends.

Here is an example of what I started this post talking about. If you work all the time while on a break, you will miss the fun. And, vice versa. Here I have worked myself into an ecological nightmare future and, in doing so, have missed all sorts of fun I could have had. Got to keep on an even keel. The Golden Mean.

Sometimes, vacations are as difficult to manage as everyday living.