[theoddz]

Well, right now I live in Las Vegas, and I don't have to tell very many folks what "Lost Wages" is like. I think a lot....maybe too many...people think they know what Vegas is like, based on what they've seen on The Strip. It's not like that for locals, though, as most of us make a concerted effort to NOT venture down there unless we have to or have guests visiting or wanting to see it. You have to see it, at least once in your life.

The local scenario is very different from the tourist experience. Once you get out of the Strip/downtown area, the city itself is very livable and pleasant. It's almost like any other relatively large sized city in the United States. Nearly everyone in Vegas is from somewhere else, so the shopping and atmosphere is rather eclectic. We even have a Chinatown!!! For me, however, my own "space" tends to be more centered around my family, my work and the military culture, since I live and work near/at Nellis Air Force Base, which is home to the Thunderbirds, which is the premier jet demonstration team of the Air Force (I'm partial to the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels, however, being a Marine), so there's a lot of air activity out where I live. It's severely hot (temps sometimes exceed 110 F) here in the summer and very comfortable (50's and 60's) in the winter months and in the past years, VERY dry with only a scant amount of rainfall. The only really significant problem we have here, as far as the environment (other than the current drought), is the smog and dusty air quality. We do get a lot of the smoke from California when they have had those devastating fires in the past few years, and since Vegas has been one of the boom towns during the inflation of the housing "bubble", we have had a bad problem with the dust. I had never, prior to moving to Las Vegas, been hospitalized for my asthma, but have since had two admissions for severe exacerbations.

I've been living in Vegas for 9 years now, but I'm originally from "The Hostess City of the South", Savannah, Georgia. I'm very, very proud to claim Savannah as my hometown and am still considering returning home when I retire from civil service and after my parents are no longer living. I miss that beautiful city, the "low country", steeped in graceful history, the laid back living and genteel flavor. I miss the smells of the salt marshes and the muddy oyster beds. I miss the fishing, crabbing and shrimping that occupied my summers when I was growing up. I miss seeing people smile and nod at each other and the way the Southern people take such pride in their manners and in treating strangers like family. It is the way I was raised and it is still a part of me. I also miss the "comfort food" of the South and a good plate of fried oysters, slaw and batter-dipped fries. I miss a good ol' fashioned "Low Country Boil" (a mixture of crab, shrimp, crawfish, corn on the cob, potatoes, onions, Kielbasa sausage, with seasonings, all boiled together in a pot). I miss the moss hanging from the knarled 100+ year old oak trees in the city. I miss sweet iced tea and the soft spoken "lowcountry" drawls that you hear from natives of Savannah and Charleston, SC.....two graceful sister cities by the sea. In short, I just miss home.

Okay, I'll quit, because I'm now so homesick, I wanna bawl!!!! LOL

~Theo~