Chilly but NO Snow!

Good Morning Folks,

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I am back in relatively warm Flagstaff. The nights have been in the 20s but the days are balmy highs in the 50s. While on my trip south for the holiday, there was some minimal snow here, enough to make the peaks white for awhile but by the time I returned nothing at the lower levels. It looks like no XC skiing for a while.

My time in Prescott and Goodyear with friends was very nice. That is probably how holidays should be spent, with friends and/or family. The usual and only downside is that you are there for a short time and do not get the "Turkey leftovers" (as you would if you were preparing the meal at home). But, I have to say that was not the case this year. I got "leftovers" the two nights following Thanksgiving at Bob and Cindys (yummy), and on Tuesday my friends Ed and Bonnie, here in Flagstaff, invited me over for more. It was a bonus year for Turkey and the trimmings.

The saga of living in this beehive apartment complex goes on. It was perhaps one of the worst decisions I have made (amongst several in my life) to move in here. It is noisey with so many young folks residing in such close proximity. I recognize their right to live as they want to, but where has common courtesy gone?

This has been a pet peave of mine for years, not just since becoming an old curmudgeon. I go out of my way to be a good neighbor wherever I live, not too noisey, especially late at night and such. But, this whole "Me" thing that developed with my generation is exasperating. People cut each other off in traffic, do not respect other peoples rights/property, and just generally feel as though they are entitled to everything without working for it. They are discourteous in stores and restaurants. They talk loudly on their cell phones in public as if we are all interested in their conversations with no regard to the surroundings. I had a philosopy professor in college who said, "one person's freedom ends at the end of their nose." Think about it! That is my pre-Xmas rant.

As for movies . . . I saw three over the holiday, the best of which was a French film (yes, subtitles) with Kristin Scott Thomas. This is by far her best performance since the English Patient. The worst of the three was Four Christmas.' Vince Vaungan is a "one trick pony." He has no acting range at all. I have to admit that he is funny, but the film was a waste of the talents of Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duval, Sissy Spacek, and John Voight. The other film was a nice little Brit fil called Happy-Go-Lucky with Sally Hawkins.

Yesterday Natasha, Jason and I went to see Australia with Nicole Kiddman. This movie harkened back to the old romantic epics of my youth. It is a bit long and could have had about 30 minutes edited out too tighten it up. But, it was very entertaining and had great sweeping panoramas of Australia. The acting was very good throughout the cast. Even though long, I did not once look at my watch and that is usually a good sign.

Cheers!