If I had my choice ... oh, wait a minute, I did have a choice ... when I was about six, growing up in Illinois--Land of Lincoln (and corn, soybeans, hogs and bitterly cold weather)--I stumbled across an encyclopedia article about Hawai'i, with color plates showing palm trees and Waikiki Beach. I informed my parents that when I grew up, I would be moving to the islands.

66 years later, I live in a tiny apartment in Waikiki, just a short walk from that same beach, and I couldn't be happier--despite the problems we face. Expensive? Oh hell yes ... Hawai'i is the most remote archipelago on Earth and shipping food, appliances, furniture, etc. out to the middle of the Pacific is not cheap! And thanks to global warming--which by the way, is REAL--Hawai'i, which used to be just outside of the Pacific hurricane zone, is now just inside of it. That's bad enough, but there's more: if we don't take drastic action soon, the rising sea level will swamp the beach and up to a mile inland by the end of the century.

But no matter ... if I am priced out of my apartment ... or a hurricane blows it away ... or the ocean waters wash it out to sea ... I can always camp under a palm tree. After all, we have nearly perfect weather all year long.