Shiney Happy Hatcher

The above picture was taken during my daily commute to work. It struck me now that the weather has turned that I could be ten times richer, and it wouldn't improve my commute to work one bit (except by eliminating it, in which case my commute would simply be a workout). It starts off with a steep downhill on a non-busy road, which unfortunately ends at a stop sign; but fortunately it is a 4-way stop, which means that one person can always cheat, so I do. But I have to slow down anyway to make a left turn. I weave my way past two traffic lights through Crystal City, a colorless downtowny looking complex of office buildings right by Reagan National Airport, populated mostly by businesses that deal with the nearby Pentagon. At only a little over a mile into my ride, I duck under the commuter train on the "connector trail", which true to its name connects me to the Mt. Vernon trail, which starts at Washington's Mt. Vernon home on the Potomac about 20 miles south of Arlington, and goes up to North Arlington. I pick it up right at Reagan, and follow it for a couple of miles, and at one point (Gravelly Point) crossing right under the flight path of planes coming into the airport. I cross over a footbridge that parallels interstate 395, which delivers me to the other side of the river, right at the Jefferson Memorial. I hug the river another mile along Ohio Drive, and enter the mall right at the Lincoln Memorial; from there I dodge tourists past the Vietnam Memorial, and into downtown, where I ride between rows of traffic that generally sit at a standstill. 7 miles when all is said and done.

Now think about all of the things in your life that you couldn't enjoy any more if you were ten times richer; the key to happiness in life is to lengthen that list (or be ten times richer than you are).