Good Very Early Saturday Morning,
Some of you already know this via e-mail, but I want to reiterate for others who don't, that I just took the first steps in purchasing a Condo here in Flagstaff. This is a monumental decision for me in several regards. First, and maybe most important, is the change of my attitude when I retired and moved to Flag. I never wanted to own a place again that would tie me to a location. The idea that I could move to wherever suited my fancy was what was appealing. I contemplated such places as Bozeman, Missoula, and Kalispel (funny they were all in Montana). In the end though, having visited all of those places several times, I found I did not like them more than here.
Other considerations for making a commitment like this have to do with the fact that I am not getting any younger (pretty obvious since none of us are), and it would seem likely that I will no longer be running off to ranger for 5 months of the year. Besides, I like the clean air, cross-country skiing in winter, the mountains, having a University in town, and the fact that it is located on major arteries taking you to Phoenix and Southern California.
Flagstaff has limitations for many folks. This has become clear to me in many ways lately, most notably through my youngest daughter and her husband's attempt to live here for the past year. There are not many opportunities for persons of their age in their chosen professions. However, it is far from a retirement community as Prescott was becoming with their 54% retired population. Weather in the winter is limiting factor for some, you know all that snow in good years. Some say there are not enough "cultural events." That to me is a bogus criticism. There are plenty of various activities going on, but many like me, have chosen not to engage in them.
The only major downside for me is the relative lack of movie theaters and good independent and foreign films at the theater complex we do have.
Before closing on this new abode in August I will be heading out on the road for a couple weeks beginning next Thursday. With the move and it's concomitant expenses this will probably be my last trip until early October or so. As I believe was mentioned in previous blogs, I am headed to the Utah Shakespeare Festival to see a couple of the bards works. Then it will be on to Wyoming for promised visits with friends and some hiking. I will return in time to do a "walk-through" of my new place and close on the 10th of August. Yahoo!
Movies: I drove to Sedona yesterday to see an independent film that I knew would not make it here. As an aside, I took Tasha and Jason with me and dropped them at Walnut Creek, near where they got married, so they could swim while my activity was inside and more sedentary. The film was Away We Go. It was a nice little movie chronicling the wayward search of a young pregnant couple for a place they would feel comfortable living. They make the decision to explore possibilities after they find out his parents are moving to Belgium for two years before the baby is born. The parents played by Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels are hilariously goofy, as are all of their strange friends and family as they visit Phoenix, Tucson, Montreal, and Miami looking for a suitable place to live. Along the way they explore their feelings about becoming parents. This is a good but not great film.
And so it goes . . .
1 comment:
Point made by you! No there is NO culture in this town except what comes from out of town. There are pathetic attemps at Shakespeare in which they treat their actors horribly. And you would NEVER have come to see that bilge had I not been in it! You are actually LEAVING THE STATE to see GOOD Shakespeare!!!!!!!Blarg. But you are right. This is not a place for Jase and I full time. We shall just come and visit you and make use of your spare room a few times a year! HA! I am glad you are getting such a cool place!
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