This early morning awakening got me thinking how my blog is much like one of my favorite periodicals, Mountain Gazette. This magazine is anxiously awaited each month but is very erratic in its appearance, sometimes first of the month, others, the middle, and as seems to be the case this month not to be seen yet. Now, this is not to say my blog is of the same quality, nor is it anxiously awaited, just variable in timing. This morning it just seemed like it was "time" again.
Funny thing about "timing," we had our biggest snow storm the last two days of official winter. At my condo there were 24 inches of the white stuff measured on the top of our carports. Most of the this winter we have had "piddling" little 1 1/2 inch storms. My XC skiing endeavors were severely curtailed, limited to a couple of sessions before Christmas, and a couple more earlier this week. Since our big storm, temps have arisen to the mid-50s and beyond. After my last skiing session on Wednesday morning I removed my ski racks from the car and stored them and the equipment away for the year. And so it goes . . .
A couple of weeks ago I got to go down to Goodyear, AZ and visit my good friends Bob and Cindy Henry. I spent some time with Cindy last summer in Yellowstone but had not seen Ranger Bob in over a year. Bob was down on furlough from his ranger job at Denali National Park. We "hung out," drank "Margaritas' (as usual), and went to an MLB spring training game. We always have a good time together. It makes we wish I could see them more often.
Today I "hit the road" again to first stop off and see my friends in Prescott, Carol and Marc Hammond, then head on to southern California to visit family. I guess this would be my Spring Break if such designations were still relevant in my life. After eleven year of retirement from the academic world dividing my life into segments of an academic year have finally departed my consciousness
This trip to my old hometown is the last for awhile. I head up to Yellowstone to work May through the first of August. I had decided to forego working for the Park Service as a seasonal ranger this year but got an opportunity to take a volunteer position with the Yellowstone Association. I will be working at their visitor center in Gardiner, Montana as an Information Assistant. Basically, I will be doing what I did as a Ranger in the Tetons giving out Park information to visitors (for Yellowstone Park). I get free housing and a daily stipend. It will be a different experience for me and the season is not as long as the last few years as a ranger. I am very much looking forward to it.
As for movies . . . A Woody Harrelson film about a "bent" LA cop in 1999, Rampart, was a great acting performance on his part. The movie is very "gritty," and disturbing. It is one of those I liked, thought was very good, but never want to see again. A definite waste of time was Wanderlust, with Paul Rudd and Jen Anniston. I should of known, most Paul Rudd movies are crap. Act of Valor billed as starring real Navy Seals was just what I thought it would be, a live action video game and recruiting film. 21 Jump Street got some good reviews so I went to it. It had some laughs but was not a very good film. The cinematic pickings have been very lean to say the least. I am hoping the trip to San Diego will afford the opportunity to get to see some good "Indie" movies.
Adios Amigas y Amigos
