Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The Dark Side of the Moon
And if the dam breaks open many years too soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon. - Pink Floyd (Brain Damage)
That's no moon... - Han Solo
There are some advantages to living 6500 feet above sea level on the side of a mountain - even more so when that mountain happens to contain Lake Tahoe. For starters, light pollution is minimal. Last night we spent a couple hours sitting on our deck watching the moon slowly get eaten by the earth's shadow, changing from bright white to a cigarette burn in the sky...pretty freaking cool if you ask me.
When we first moved out here a couple weeks ago the Perseid's were in full force. Again another night spent on the deck watching the night sky. The lack of light pollution making a major difference. Love it, love it, love it.
There are downsides to living up here too - for starters the area boasts the highest concentration of rich people anywhere in Nevada. And while I've never been a big fan of rich people, I hate their kids even more. The other day Molliwogg spotted a teenager getting out of a brand new Lexus bearing a bumper sticker reading, "Daddy bought, but I got it."
You'll excuse me while I go vomit.
Still, I did meet one cool rich lady at Clinton's visit a week or so ago. It seems with rich people, the older they get, the cooler they are. On the flip side, the younger they are, the more likely you want to hide their body parts in random locations across the desert.
However the upsides far outweigh the annoyances - the aforementioned celestial slide shows, cat-sized squirrels carrying football-sized pine cones up trees, hawks and chipmunks everywhere (the great circle of life Simba), all kinds of bird life including the Steller's Jay - mascot of my old high school in Alaska. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure I saw a bald eagle a couple weeks ago - it could have been a hawk with the sun hitting it just right. The last time I saw a bald eagle was in Seattle of all places nearly a decade ago. It's funny, growing up in Alaska you kind of took them for granted, in the lower 48, seeing one is an event.
My first week here I met and shook hands with President Clinton; a meeting I'm still giddy about. And I haven't been to Reno going on three weeks now. Life is good.
Haven't seen any bears yet, but I have seen evidence of them - ransacked trash bins, countless newspaper articles, and everyone here seems to have a story about an encounter. It's only a matter of time.
Another upside to living out here is either a) rich people don't bowl, or b) rich people have bowling lanes in their homes. Every time we've gone down to the local alley, it's been empty. More lanes for us. :)
Anyhoo....back to your regularly scheduled de-programming.
|
