"I got the green light. I got a little fight. I'm gonna turn this thing around!"

The glory in this thing is an illusion most of the time. When people ask what I do, they gasp at the answer and very often, comment that I am living their dream. Whoa-wee. This is most often the opposite of a dream! Mine isn't that usual "restaurant business" complaint I've always heard of though. For me, (I worked for the Marines for nearly 20 years---there is no harder job---I LOVE the Marines, by the way...)...it's the economy, of course. If we would just break even for a little while, I'd be resting easy. I take solace in the fact that my boat is crowded with nearly everybody on earth right now! Actually, I've got blessings to count all day long. These past two weeks, I've been counting Burning Man.

Burning Man is our big deal here in northern Nevada. The festival sold out this year, at 50,000 tickets and we had people flying in from 30 countries. They flooded our sleepy city with joy and energy and money! They ate here in record numbers before blowing out to the desert for a profound week of art and humanity at it's best. As dusty after-burners, they came back through for breakfast and lunch. Tired, but all joy and energy and money! We'll be washing the playa dust off the floor for awhile, but I'm restored in my vision here.

I'm Hungarian and Croatian, too. Tough people. Great food. Creative vision. As I drove home over the Donner Pass late Monday night, the words of a song on the radio---the title above---struck me and cleared my resolve to ignore the times. I can beat this. I can change up my menu, change my prices, lure people in, enchant with creamy cumin salad dressing, I can make it happen...count on me. Period.

The road here from Sacramento is all uphill. My view on Monday night was the black silhouette of pine against a black star-spangled sky! That's what you get with uphill around here! "I got the green light. I got a little fight. I'm gonna turn this thing around!"