As I write the May Newsletter, I am sitting here at my office desk, looking out the spacious window that views a flowering plum tree and a multitude of blossoming shrubs and trees whose names have long escaped me. I am quite fortunate to have an office that allows me to keep in touch with the beauty of the outdoor landscape. This view has inspired me on many an occasion.

Today the sun is shining brightly, the sky is peppered with beautiful cumulus clouds that seem to be stuck in slow motion, I can even hear a passing covey of quail that are well hidden from sight, but have made their presence known with their distinctive calling. The desert is truly a beautiful place to live and work!

What is so unique about today is that when I turned on the radio to capture the latest financial headline, all I heard were warnings about our dire circumstances nationally and particularly for Southern Nevada. When you drill down to the sources of reporting, you find bits of truth designed to capture your attention, but they contain little substance or veracity. Real estate is normally at the focus of these commentaries. If you believe these forecasters of economic gloom, owners would never sell their house; renters would never become first time buyers; and investors would park their disposable cash in cd’s and wait for the next decade to take risk.

 Oh, by the way, the weather forecast for today was for thunderstorms and high winds; another forecast gone awry.