Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Fall Rains Have Come . . . With a Vengeance

God Morning Folks,




I was awakened this morning with a very violent thunder, lightning and rain storm. Last evening we were subjected to an early hail and rain fest. Fall has come in with a roar after several very warm days. The temps are now pleasantly in the 60s and 70s, perfect weather as far as I am concerned.



The trip to California to see family is a little over a week in the past now, and as is the case with most of these forays out of Flagstaff these days, it almost seems that it never happened (but not quite). It was a good trip with many baseball and soccer games and visits with family, which was the primary purpose. The grandsons are growing fast. One thing that I thought might not be in the cards was getting to spend a little one-on-one time with Zac, the eldest of Tania's offspring. Granted it was not for a very long period just an hour or so but it was greatly valued. My reason for believing that it might not happen is because he is 13 going on 14 rapidly, not an age that lends its self to close contact with adults. But, he made very obvious shows of affection with me and spent some time that was very much appreciated. Both Cole and Torin also seemed glad to see Gramps.





Another very nice activity that I was able to engage in was seeing my sister Marlene and brother Russell. On two separate occasions I had breakfast with each of my siblings. Of course there is my sister Norma. She is always there for me and she and Scott graciously open their house to this old curmudgeon. Of my family members she is my rock. I have to say that I did have some nice extended conversations with my eldest daughter, Tania, as well.



Speaking of daughters, today is my youngest's second anniversary. I cannot believe it has been two years since we were all rushing around getting this wedding off the ground. Jason and Tasha were under pressure to find a place to live as well as get the married. They had a rough first year and a half being stuck here in Flagstaff with making a living in this financial recession a struggle. They survived it as an intact couple and are now living half way around the world in Japan. They have gotten a handle on their finances. Here's to them and their future together!



While in California I saw three movies, and one since I returned, all were fairly decent. The first was, in my opinion, the best. That was The Town, directed, co produced, co-written, and featuring Ben Afleck. He did a great job in all aspects on this gritty Boston based film. Second of the four on my list is the one I viewed most recently. The Social Network chronicling the invention of "Facebook" and the eccentricities of it's creator was a well done film as well. You cannot go wrong when the writer for the film is Aaron Sorokin (also creator and writer of my favorite all time TV show, The West Wing). An interesting but slow moving film that I saw while in southern Cal was Cairo Time starring Independent film actress Patricia Clarkson. It was great tour of Cairo, Egypt while being a different kind of "almost" love story. Lastly, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was better than I had expected. I went to see it the last morning of my visit. Primarily, it was to be a diversion until the grandsons got out of school and was surprised that it was an interesting film dealing with the most recent financial collapse. Michael Douglas, Josh Brolin and Shia LeBouef (an actor I do not usually like) did a nice job but I love Carry Mulligan. She is one of my new favorite actresses along with the Kate and Cate.



That's about it from rainy but beautiful Flagstaff.



Adios Amigas y Amigos!

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