The starkest thing is that the poor people in the far villages are filled with life and joy and giving, while the rich at the Royal Mansour seemed dour and unhappy.

I'd rather be joyfully poor than miserably rich.

It's been brewing in my mind since we stayed at one of the most expensive hotels in the world (which was a one-time, "hey we got some money we never thought we'd see, so let's do something truly crazy for once").

The contrasts that exist make me think.

But... but... that's the only reason we exist!

"Give to the rich and steal from the poor," isn't that America's motto??

Don't get me wrong, the end of petro-civilization is inevitable - & was once the earth had a set mass - but "everyone will be dead in X years" ignores how remote and resilient some communities are.

Morocco is full of villages in the mts. that have been there hundreds, if not thousands of years.

I'm thinking about writing a long thread, or maybe a piece on my forgotten Medium page, on how traveling to Morocco has altered by views on collapse. It will give me a chance to kick the NTHE folks in the gut.

You're allowed to have a dog.

The world is an immense place, full of people, life, creativity, and sadly, hate and destruction.

I'm in Marrakesh not Casablanca ATM, but to paraphrase Rick, "the problems of [a woman and her dog] don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

Here's a shot taken at dusk.

Although the mountains are covered in snow (~12,500 ft), the climate where we are is subtropical, and they grow a *huge* range of fruits and vegetables.

Here's a shot taken at dusk.

Although the mountains are covered in snow (~12,500 ft), the climate where we are is subtropical, and they grow a *huge* range of fruits and vegetables.

Does not look happy. 😾

If you have ChatGPT write it, it will save you tons of time and effort!

Night of the Living Dead vibes.

Well, I mean, if the shoe fits. 🤷

😉

But, yeah, seems a bit mean.

Our riad includes a beautiful Koran, in both French and Arabic.

We fought long and hard to recover, & many things will never be the same.

Yes, we could live in a mud hut and give all our money away. But one thing I learned from nearly being burned alive in a wildfire is that life is short and precious, and the world is big and beautiful.

I'm going to enjoy it.

Rooftop: Private pool and covered sitting area.

Second floor: sitting room, bedrooms, bathroom.

So, welcome to our private riad at the Royal Mansour.

First floor: main area with fountain, bar, living room.

In December, Biden signed HR 5863, which made our Fire Victims Trust settlement non-taxable. Over a quarter of our settlement went to taxes. Getting that back was huge.

We put the vast majority in the bank or into water storage systems for our home.

But... we also splurged. Big time.

I guess I've landed in a universe where blue cheese dressing doesn't exist. 🤷