Today, as I write this and as we near the end of September, we're enjoying a rare cool Fall day and it is such a relief after a summer filled with sandstorms, windstorms, one torrential rainstorm, excessively hot, muggy days and a bug invasion the likes of which we haven't experienced in the last nine years!
We live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. The weather here is perfect eight or nine months of the year, but those three months in the middle can cause one to question one's sanity for staying around in the summer -- especially for service providers like us who have to work out in that heat all day.
Now is the time when we start getting all the requests for Fall prep and return of our clients. Many of our clients come in for a bit before Thanksgiving or between Thanksgiving and Christmas, then leave and return after the holidays; while others come and stay for the season and still more come and go for a rare weekend or two. We love this time of year, freshening things up and witnessing the joy of homeowners back in our amazing desert, returning to their homes after long absences.
This year the drought has created several challenges, including the fact that no power washing is allowed. We can still hose off homes (desperately needed once scalping is finished) and wash windows but we have to be careful and conscious not to waste water.
When the water restrictions went into effect the beginning of August, we immediately reset all the irrigation timers for the homes where we do landscaping so we are in compliance, but so many others have not. If you come home and see a neighbor with lush green shrubs and lawn and yours are a little droopy, know that you are doing your part to save water and they are not. Here is a link to CVWD's water restrictions (DWA has imposed the same).
Still, even with the drought, I'd rather live here than anywhere else. I am grateful for the cleanliness of the desert. We are so used to it that we often fail to appreciate how much work goes into street sweeping and landscape and litter control and graffiti removal -- that is, until we go somewhere else and see how truly dirty and littered so many cities are.
Have you ever noticed the lack of cars parked in neighborhoods around here? I know HOA restrictions might seem frustrating for some, but they keep your neighborhoods lovely and open and clean. It is so much better. In other cities you can barely drive due to auto-lined streets that look more like parking lots than neighborhoods.
I guess I'm on a gratitude streak as I write this today. Happy to be alive. Happy to be who I am. Happy to live in such a lovely place. Happy our community is close knit. Happy to have such amazing friends and colleagues and clients. Happy that my family is healthy and happy.
Life is good.
And you know what? Since we are the architects of our lives and because how we perceive things creates our reality, we get to choose for it to be good. Yes, sometime bad things happen, but we get to choose how we react to those situations (and hopefully learn from them). We get to choose happy.
And while all that is true, and even though it's a little early for Thanksgiving, I'll let you in on a little secret -- gratitude makes you happy. I know, I know, that sounds like a clich�, but it is true. If you are grateful, you can't help but be happy. The two are symbiotic. It is impossible to be resentful and be happy. It is impossible to be negative and be happy. It is impossible to hold a grudge or gossip or be rude to someone and still be happy.
Are you sensing a trend? Gosh I hope so! As you plan to return to the desert this season, please let us know what we can do to make your arrival perfect. If you live here full time, don't forget to look around and appreciate the beauty of the desert and, more importantly, the people who do the work to keep it that way.
Make a conscious decision today to be happy. See if that single decision doesn't change your entire day, your experiences and, if you're lucky, the amount of endorphins your brain releases! But be careful, 'happy' is addictive and you may just find yourself whistling or adding a spring to your step. For sure it will make people wonder what is different about you. Go on, try it. Choose gratitude and happiness. I challenge you....