Almost a New Year!

Good Morning on the last day of this year!

I am not sure of what this last year means to me. Surely the election of new President with hopes for us all is certainly a positive note. But, we have lost so many folks that I grew up with that it saddens me to think of their passing. Paul Newman and George Carlin are representatives of that group, not that they are the only ones of importance, just emblematic of an era for me.

My youngest daughter got married and that is good. My tenth year as a ranger in the Tetons was, for the most part good. The new duty station at Jenny Lake presented a new challenge for me but was a nice change. However, the last three weeks of duty made me begin to question whether I wanted to continue on with the park service. Maybe the coming summer will bring with it travel to places I have wanted to get to but haven't.

Yesterday my friend Marc came up to Flagstaff and we got some XC sking in at the nordic center. There is still a lot of snow out there but with the warming temps it is beginning to do that "freeze/thaw" thing. Plus, it warmed up pretty fast and we were shedding layers right away. The skiing itself was pretty good but conditions were a bit slick to begin with and getting soft by the time we finished, not the pristine conditions I had before Xmas. However, it was good to get out there.

Since last I wrote I have seen two movies. The first, Marley and Me, I saw with my daughter and grandsons in California before leaving. It was a nice family picture (although my grandson Cole said there were a couple of naughty parts). It was entertaining and enjoyable for what it was. The second movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is one of the best movies I've seen this year (I will list my top 10 for 2008 in my next posting). Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett give career performances. I found the story both poignant and thoughtful. There are many lessons here for living one's life. I highly recommend this film.

Happy New Year to all. Lets hope it brings better things for our personal lives, our country and the world.

Peace!