Karma in Vegas

At Oasis RV Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada...

Karma, as expressed in Buddhism, is an action taken in this life or in a previous incarnation that brings about an inevitable result, for good or bad, that has an impact on one's present situation.

While I'm no adherent to Buddhism, I do believe the fact that Las Vegas is currently having a record heat wave (it was 109 degrees today) may have something to do with my insufferably smug reporting to friends and family of our enjoying the cool weather when we were in the Rockies and in Alaska. I am a victim of my own karma!

Readers of this blog probably get tired of hearing me whine about how much I despise hot weather. So what, other than karma, explains why I find myself in this pit of fire and brimstone here in the Nevada desert?

It sounded good in theory: Since we had to travel across the vast desert southwest to get back to Texas anyway, why not just accept a little discomfort outside occasionally and stop at some places we haven't seen for a while?

I already recounted our trek of insanity across the Mojave to get here, but I didn't expect the blast furnace to follow! Another odd thing: This was the first time there were no bugs on the windshield after a long leg like that one. I suppose they all died of heatstroke before they could commit suicide by crashing into my windshield! Karma for the bugs, too, it seems.

This might be a good place for me to insert a photo or two from our Alaska cruise, so I can remember our wonderful cool surroundings before we decided to come here to see what hell is like.

This is me, standing in front of a stuffed bear in Sitka, Alaska. Notice my jacket; the temperature was in the fifties there. Those were the days!

And this one is of Sandy on the cruise ship at the glacier in Tracy Arm Fjord in Alaska. It was cold out there on the deck!  There, I'm feeling better already. We really were there! (Too bad we couldn't have stayed.)

I didn't bother to take any photos of overheated people here in Las Vegas, as most had shed as much clothing as they could to help them cope. For most of them, however, taking their photo would not exactly be a kind thing to do. 

In our earlier life when I was with the airlines, Sandy and I flew to Las Vegas occasionally to see some shows, and we always enjoyed the big productions starring our favorite performers. The place has changed a lot since then, and I'll have some more observations about that in the next post.

For today, we managed to get up and get ready by the crack of noon (no, we don't drink, so we weren't hung over). I did a little quick research on the computer and found a lunch joint, Sonio's, where the locals go for a good meal on the cheap. It was as advertised, and we enjoyed some excellent chicken tacos and an Italian beef sandwich au jus with French fries. So delicious, and a steal for fourteen bucks! On the strip, our bill would have been at least twice as much.

After that, Sandy did some shopping (what else?), and we decided to see a show later at the Excalibur where the Australian Bee Gees were performing. We hadn't heard of this act before, but the real Bee Gees were popular back in our younger years, so we thought it would be pretty good, as we would probably recognize their music, unlike most everything else that passes for music these days.

One thing we noticed about Las Vegas this time was that there were no shows featuring music from our teenage years, the fifties and sixties. Then we looked at each other and realized that no one from that era comes to Las Vegas anymore--they're too old! Can you imagine how many handicapped parking spaces would be needed? Suddenly, we felt out of place. I guess Branson is more our speed now; at least you can find music there with classic lyrics like this: "It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater..."

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I don't appreciate it enough every day.