I was watching the news from my suite here in Las Vegas Nevada this morning (if you have the means I really do suggest you make time to enjoy the finer things in life, if you don't...work harder) and a little story caught my interest. I t was the story of the small Oregon town of Detroit. It seems that since Christmas the snow just has not stopped. Three times the average snowfall for the season has fallen since Christmas and now they have over 12 feet of snow. So they did what any community would do when things become beyond their ability to cope with, they called in the National Guard.

As the story unfolded many of the town's folks were telling the stories of how they have managed their own with their own property during these trying times. Turns out everybody has coped just fine. The only reason they called in the National Guard was to keep the roads cleared. Other than that the community was watching out for each other, their elderly, their children, the children of others, and they had banded together to protect each other during these times.

One person was asked if they would move because of the snow. Her answer, "We know we get these storms when there is a La Nina system, we prepare for these emergencies."

Apparently years of living in an area that gets heavy storms (this is a record breaker) has taught the residents to prepare for the worst. Their city governments did what was expected when they could not longer cope with the business of keeping the roads open, but the people are not complaining about the government, the state even the city as failing them, it's just a fact of life. You live in the mountains, you get snow, and sometimes a ton more than you want.

This is an unremarkable situation. It is the norm in most of the country. People helping people and relying on themselves and each other for help. Generators are everywhere, just about every house has one. People store food in case they can't get the store or city for weeks at a time. I grew up in a town like this with a single major artery to the city. One rock slide shut it down for three months in the mid-80's. We found ways out of the mountains using back roads and we worked.

This is the way life works. Granted there was no flood. But in New Orleans and Mississippi they know these hurricanes are coming, maybe not when, but that they are coming. Actually they even get many days notice before they hit. I lived in Houston for a a while and I watched the people there prepare for one (it never came) but for a week in advance they were getting ready.

Twisters, floods, earthquakes, heat waves and storms happen, and we prepare, we move or we die. This is life folks... Get used to it because you'll be here for a long time.

But what would I know; I'm just an Average American.

P.S. You'll also notice they blame the storm in Oregon is being said to be caused by La Nina, and not Global Warming. Things that make you think...