At a Loss about Las Vegas

When you live in Los Angeles, Las Vegas is a part of life.

Vegas is the neon oasis that everyone can drive to for a weekend away.

I spent a lot of time there as a child. TONS of time.

It was SO BORING for a kid.

There was NOTHING to do there in those days if you weren’t 21 years old (today there are many more activities for kids).

As a kid, I had Circus Circus and they had arcade games (do they still have arcade games?).

I also had adventures at the nearby Lake Mead, where I could feed these giant ugly carp fish popcorn from their boat dock.

I remember the Flamingo’s neon lights (see header photo) and all the old hotels that no longer stand.

Las Vegas is also close to some wonderful natural beauties like Red Rock Canyon, if you can get away from the famous strip or downtown. That part I still love with it's lovely picnic areas.

If you’ve ever seen the movie Casino, that movie is more of what Vegas never was in my lifetime. Maybe it was in the Frank Sinatra days, but in my life Vegas always just smelled like an ashtray and was never quite that glamorous. Today there are new hotels that are trying to be that glamorous, but Vegas also has issues today that didn’t exist before, like the traffic and pollution that follow most growing cities.

While they do have a lot of veg* food and some health food available, as I grew into health, I went to Vegas less and less. Today it’s a rare destination to see a Cirque de Soleil show. I do miss this unique city though and it's vibe and lights, and all my fond memories inscribed into my soul.

Today's news of the Las Vegas Harvest Concert tragedy sinks my heart on multiple levels.

**I saw some of my first and greatest concerts in Vegas, including Black Sabbath (at the old Aladdin theatre). I remember when they built the Hard Rock there too, and saw several concerts there as well. Music is so important and we need a world where everyone can enjoy live music safely. We all need that.

**What is happening to humanity? I'm sure we all ask this when we read these sad headlines.

**Mental health. Coincidentally, I saw Quiet Riot in Vegas, as a youngster, too. As a professional healthy lifestyle advocate, there is so much work to do to help folks make the connection between our physical and mental health. Our head is connected, generally (smile), to the rest of our body and it cannot be ignored!