It’s the economy, stupid!
August 2nd, 2008, 9:36 am · Post a Comment · posted by mcazalas
LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE, N.H. - The thermometer on the porch overlooking the lake reads 78 degrees, the humidity is about minus 7, it is one of the busiest tourism weekends here, and there are only six boats on the water.
Two of those are kayaks.
It’s refreshing to have the lake to ourselves. And it’s refreshing to know the economic woes (but let’s not call it a recession) we face in Florida are not isolated.
It’s not to wish problems upon others, though there is company in misery.
This time last year on our annual vacation to New Hampshire, we could barely cross the lake for the plethora of boats and Waverunners. It’s 10:30 a.m., and the boat count isnow down to three from our vantage point on the front porch.
The conversation at the breakfast table last year as we gathered - my uncle and aunt, my mother, my sister and brother-in-law and their three children, and the boy and I - centered around whether we were boating, skiing or going to the Weirs if the weather was poor.
This morning our host, Uncle Bob, a retired developer who got out when the getting out was good and did well enough to be able to host all of us again this year, talked about indictments. He talked about the developer and attorneys and bankers facing prison in Sarasota, where my uncle keeps his winter home, for real estate fraud involving property flipping.
On the porch, as I write this, we are debating the price of gas and drilling in Anwar and off the coast of Florida. A year ago, this would have been an even argument. Today, my mother the staunch democrat is the lone vocal dissenter, though her husband is putting on a show of agreeing.
The house next to my uncles on the lake is up for sale for $12 million or so. It will sell, he says.
“The people living on this island are affected differently than most people,” he said.
The rich get richer, which is great if you are the rich, or related to them.
It’s a pretend week for us. Pretending we could afford to fly here (the tickets were a gift), pretending we have a waverunner so new and big that it can hold me while I pull a skier, pretending that we have the means to hop onto my uncle’s expensive, gas-guzzling boat and motor over to the Weirs for ice cream each night.
For this week, at least, we have the means. We’ll worry about next week later.
Meanwhile, we’ve moved the debate to nuclear power plants.
