Today, I decided to close up shop early and spend a quiet afternoon out on the patio. Had a clean bill of health from the dentist (always a good thing), then the clouds came rolling in around mid-afternoon. Carmelo and the guys just finished keeping the place looking beautiful and well-kept, and it seemed like such a nice day to take a break from the diet, pour myself a pinot grigio, play some surf and light jazz from The Sandals (their music seems to fit the kind of life I want to live right now), and enjoy the peace and quiet of a warm and cloudy February afternoon as the dusk closed in.

I took a couple of pictures to show off the back yard, circa February 7, 2012.

As you can see looking west, the grass is coming along nicely, and everything is nice and green:

Looking east, you can see the tiki torches we’ve added along the wall around the pool to create a little tropical ambiance whenever the mood strikes:

It’s days like this when I sit back and thank God for so many of the blessings we’ve been bestowed with. Never in a million years would I have believed it if you told me some day I’d be able to sit out on a lovely patio decorated in Caribbean colors with a tiki bar, swimming pool, palm trees, and all the creature comforts a February afternoon in the desert Southwest has to offer. No shoes, no shirt, no problems, just me, the clouds, a warm breeze, the palm trees, and a glass of wine and some music to make the troubles and conccerns of the so-called “real world” seem far away indeed.

This is not to say that there aren’t concerns: while we have jobs, they’re only as secure as any job can be these days. There’s a mountain of debt still left to pay off this year, and my own fatalistic nature tells me that nothing lasts forever, disaster is always just around the corner, and the personal demons are never that far away. Still, to allow myself this afternoon interlude where I can relax and contemplate the twists and turns of fortune that have brought me to this particular place and time is something not to take for granted and to cherish for what it is. No more, no less.

Oh… three days from this moment in time I’ll be in Vegas, baby…