Turbo-yuck

I have the April blues. Just worked on the tax return on Turbo Tax online, and I owe the government several thousand dollars. Bummer! But I'm going to think positive and remember that means I'm blessed with the good fortune to have gainful employment. And I get to live on Ocracoke!

John asked what we were getting for our tax dollars, and I said that 14 of the 16 miles of our island home are maintained by the Federal government (since it's National Park Service property), so that's a good thing. I actually got that idea from a story told last year by Donald Davis (the renowned, hysterically funny storyteller who lives here). He talked about his first "real" job (as a teenager), and how shocked he was when he got his first paycheck and saw how much money "disappeared". He commented on it to his father, who explained that the money went towards government programs, citing several positive examples including the National Parks system. So Donald decided to think of his taxes as paying for the National Parks. He went on to say that, after all his years of working, he figures he owns a couple of parks outright by now!

I think I'll go for a walk on the beach tomorrow to clear my head of tax thoughts, and to remind myself that all that money does go for a some good things (yes, I know much of it is wasted too...but I prefer my Pollyanna rose colored glasses view at the moment, thank you very much!)