Relative Something

We are home again, and the first thing I was faced with last night was the chore of cleaning up the pile at the end of the driveway left by the snowplow. I shoveled the driveway again! Home, sweet home.

Once again, we have been lucky enough to enjoy some of the pleasures of the extremely wealthy. Yesterday, we took a drive through a neighborhood of beyond-category luxury ocean-front homes on our way to a state park beach. Sunday we had a late lunch in Naples, where we watched cars worth more than our Minnesota home, cruise past the shops that offer $28,000 artwork for sale. People walking past me on the street were wearing clothes and jewelry that look like probably cost more than I earn in a year.

We may be among the small percentage of people in the world who own a home, and multiple automobiles, have money in the bank, and can afford airfare for leisure travel, but we have nowhere near the wealth that I am exposed to when I visit the Florida Gulf coast. And this is just one small place in the world where the wealthy gather. It boggles my mind that there can be enough incredibly wealthy people to account for the lavish offerings that exist there and elsewhere. Who are all the people that have enough money for the yachts, mansions, fancy cars, and other things I once believed were the realm of athletes, celebrities, corporate executives, sheiks, and drug lords?

Maybe in my mind, it is like this: anyone with less money than us, doesn’t have enough, and anyone with more, has too much. Unfortunately, the way it usually plays out for me is that, when I see others around me who don’t have as much as me, I feel like I have too much.

Given the obvious poverty of the majority of the people in the world, I know that I have more than I deserve.

We truly are very lucky to have enjoyed such luxury in our visit to the Florida home of Cyndie’s parents with our friends. We experienced 3 days of fabulous sunshine and warm temperatures in the middle of winter. On our last day, some rain moved in, but not until after we enjoyed one last wonderful walk on the beach. The sun popped out late in the day while we were waiting at the airport, producing a magnificent complete double rainbow that nicely marked the completion of our magical visit. It wasn’t all that difficult to have excessive fun amid all that amazing excess.