Morning in Las Vegas

The cool, crisp air and the pastel blue of the desert sky give the Las Vegas strip a feeling of innocence and natural beauty. As I jog down the strip, my lungs grasp for traction in the thin mountain air. However I am glad to be out of the hotel alone with my music and my thoughts. On this morning, my run is not going so well. I am running out of steam about halfway through. I take the time to walk a bit and observe. Gone are the bustling crowds of the strip with their cigarettes and beer cans, the girls in cocktail dresses and the ever present hustlers passing out cards for girlie clubs from the night before. The sidewalk is home to a few joggers, service workers going to their jobs and a homeless person carrying a garbage bag full of his possessions. However, reminders of the other Las Vegas are everywhere. LED signs (the high tech version of neon) on every building advertise shows. Abandoned news stands contain advertisements for seedy clubs. Nevertheless, the morning is one of vitality rather than excess. Construction workers in orange safety vests appear every hundred yards or so, fixing the streets and renovating the insides of future shops. This is a bustling city brimming with the hope of a new day which will give way to the carnival atmosphere after sundown.