Good Bye Yellowstone, Hello Flagstaff . . .

In the interp. ranger's office at Mammoth

Hey Folks,

My season in Yellowstone comes to an end on Monday, Labor Day. I am sitting here reflecting on the "good, the bad, and the ugly." Not too much of the latter. The bad (or good, depending on how you view it) was my final revelation that I do not want to deal with these people any longer. Not necessarily the Park Service folks but in saying that there was not as much camaraderie here as I have had in other places. Possibly this is the result of being so close to headquarters and/or, maybe, it is just my personality that most of my co-workers did not get.


However, what I do mean in reference to "these people," are the park visitors. Many are very nice, most do not have a clue as to why they came to Yellowstone. They do not research their trip, have no idea what to expect, or any plan whatsoever. Instead of answering questions about hikes and explaining features of the park they want us to plan their trip for them as if we were travel guides. I knew that I was done with this type of work for sure when I had to "act" tolerant of these visitors, when in fact, I was far from it.

view from my quarters front door

On the good side, it was great to be up here in the greater Yellowstone ecological system. I did not get out into the park as much as I should have but was limited, somewhat, by the fact that my days off did not coincide with anyone who I could have hiked with. One does not hike alone in Grizzly country. I did stay in several of the lodge's cabins on days off. I know it is probably blasphemy to say this but enjoying Bozeman, MT was one of my regular activities on many days off. Next to Flagstaff that is where I would not mind living.



Yet another positive aspect of the job was my boss putting me in an apartment by myself, and it did not hurt that it had a great view. Having a roommate probably would have had me gone before my contracted time had expired. Still, at times I was on the verge of leaving for other reasons.

I guess that the "ugly" was the attack by a Grizzly sow with a cub on my young fellow ranger Dylan while he was off duty hiking in the central part of the park. He and his fellow hiker did everything right to include playing dead and emptying their bear spray canisters on the animals. It probably saved them further injury although Dylan suffered having 15 staples in the back of his head and 19 stitches on his right thigh. He is doing well and back at work. But best of all, has seemingly no psychological trauma. He is out hiking this very weekend again. So much for being 24 years old. On another note, the Grizzly is not being sanctioned because she was protecting her offspring.


Monday after my quarters are inspected I am out of here to the Tetons to spend one last night with friends. It is my friend Laine's 61st birthday so hope I get to see him. I went down on my last days off and had really quality time with many of my friends there. Had drinks with native artist DG House, Laine, and Bob. Got to converse with folks at my old visitor center, Colter Bay, and even got to see Tom and Dola Berg with whom I spent many an evening around a campfire in years past. It was good times!

Bob Hoyle, Me, and Tom Berg, members of the old "Gorilla Club" of  Colter Bay

This may be my last time up this way for awhile, if ever. All-in-all it was a good experience in most respects. I will miss the area and my friends, not so much the job. Being a ranger "ain't" what it use to be!


As for movies, I've seen quite a few this summer some of which I mentioned in my July blog so will just let you know what I think was good. Two very good films that were my most recently viewed were The Butler with Forrest Whitaker, and The World's End. Each was excellent in its own way. World's End is humorous coming from those who brought you Shaun of the Dead (which I did not care for) and is not what it seems. It is really about the homogenization of the modern world. It has many different levels on which to enjoy it. Elysium with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster was quite good as well. There were a few others but none worth mentioning from my point of view.

Adios from Yellowstone National Park!

Will write next from home in Flagstaff.

On the Border, of Wyoming and Montana that is . . .

At my duty station, Albright Visitor Center

Morning Folks,


Last entry in May was titled "Been Awhile." Guess this one should be "Been a Long While!" Since arriving in Yellowstone for my new seasonal ranger job I have been trying to get adjusted to my new new surroundings and the work itself. I had not done Ranger programs since the 2008 summer season and not had to put together all new programs since 1999, my first year in the Tetons. It has all been pretty exhausting for me.


 I think I may be getting too old for this kind of work. Not only that but it does not have the same excitement for me any more. However, it is fitting that if this is my last season with the Park Service it be working in the oldest and "grand daddy" of them all. Yellowstone National Park.


I have to say that they have done well for me here in some respects, starting out with giving me an apartment by myself instead of the original shared quarters I was supposed to have. My boss, Brian e-mailed me on my way up that I was getting this apartment. That has turned out to be the most important element for me sticking things out here. The first week I was here out my front door is where the "Buffalo Roamed." That is not to mention the great view.

My front Porch at Mammoth in Yellowstone

Probably have not taken full advantage of the park as I should. The thing is, the people I work with are OK but it is not as close knit a group as I had at Colter Bay in the Tetons. The days off that I have do not lend themselves to having anyone to hike with . . . and, hiking alone here in Grizzly country is not advised, nor would I chance it. I have taken one trip down to the Tetons and Jackson to visit friends and get a haircut (will go again next week). In addition I have stayed at Roosevelt Lodge cabins and gone over the Beartooth highway, as well as a stay in the Lodge cabins at Old Faithful. So am taking full advantage of being up here. I do love the area.

The Beartooth

My most frequent weekend destination (my ranger Lieu Day as they call them, Thursday and Fridays)  has been Bozeman, MT. I have been there six times, twice overnight for both days off. It is the closest place to reasonably see movies and do some shopping. Plus, I just like the town. When Mom died I considered moving there. Over the fourth of July, my most recent day off I spent them there partially because the park has become a zoo with all the "visitors."

One of my reasons for heading to Bozeman last "weekend" was to finally go hiking in Hyalite Canyon, a place 22 miles outside of the city. I had read about it a year ago in Bozeman Outside and thought it looked like a nice place to hike. Friday morning I awoke very early, as usual here, to find it raining heavily. I had thought this would cancel my hike, and it did to a certain extent but decided to drive out and take a look at the place. It was really beautiful forested canyon. There was a let-up in the rain so I was able to do about a mile of walking before it started up again. It is definitely a place to file away for a future trip. Plus, there were numerous campgrounds fairly near the trail just off the road. May try to plan a car camping trip up that way before I leave.

 Hyalite Creek Trail

Even though the job is not for me anymore it has afforded me the opportunity to be up here and I am thankful for that. And, of course I will be the best ranger I can be while on the job. But as I mentioned above I think this is my "Last Hurrah" at it. Eight hours on my feet five days a week just does not cut it with me physically. I have never had to do that before, even in the Tetons, and most especially not in my career as a college instructor. No matter how much time I spend in the gym that amount of time on my feet is too tiring for me.


As for films . . . I have seen too many to mention here since my last blog so will just note some of the best and worst (in my opinion).  The most recent and disappointing was The Lone Ranger. I had hoped for much better as I did with "gal pal" cop film with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, The Heat. To be sure there were some funny gags with McCarthy, but overall it was not that good a film.  My favorite of the summer so far has been the new Star Trek movie and I am not even a "Trekie!" Before leaving for Yellowstone I saw Mud featuring Matthew McConaghy. It was an excellent film, probably the best I've seen so far this year. Gatsby was OK but a bit of a disappointment.  Now You See Me was interesting and not bad. The new Superman offering, Man of Steel, was pretty good as well. I was pleasantly surprised by Brad Pitt's film, World War Z. Usually Zombie films are not my cup of tea but this one was done well and more a comment on contagious desease than zombies. In a way it is much like the movie Contagion that came out last year. So, as is usually the case with summer films, there have been some hits and misses. I know there have been some decent animated films out there but I do not do those.


Cheers all!

Been Awhile . . .

Afternoon Folks (if there are any of you still out there),


I know, I know it has been since February when last I blogged (is that the right terminology for what this is?). There are no excuses, just did not feel like it. I suppose we could say a lot has happened, or not. Had kind of decided to "bag" this blog thing but here I am.

The biggest news is that I am returning to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem once more after saying I'd probably not work up there yet again. Don't worry I have been called on that statement many times by fellow "workoutees" at Flagstaff Athletic Club. "Hey I thought you weren't going to do that anymore" is the common refrain. So, guess what? Not only am I doing it again, but am back with the Park Service working Interp. (what we use to call Ranger Naturalist) out of the visitor center at Mammoth Hot Springs. I leave Monday. My tour of duty is about three and three quarters months. My last day is Labor Day.


It is difficult for me (it seems) not to head up to Wyoming and Montana in the spring and summer. Have been doing so as a visitor, ranger and volunteer for over 24 years, starting out taking Natasha, my youngest on summer camping trips that I never got to do as a kid. After my years as a college instructor this has been the most influential part of my life, especially the latter phases of it so far. For a guy whose family never took him, or his siblings on any vacations this has been it for me.


Had been thinking about doing a blog around the theme of an old Bob Dylan song from my younger days, "The Times They Are a Changing." It is difficult to get a grasp on this as a concept because change has been so exponential in my lifetime. I think about my grandfather who died many years ago but who had spanned a time frame in which the Wright Brothers invented actual human flight and men walked on the moon. That is a lot to comprehend in a lifetime.


I would guess that the information revolution has been at the forefront of my life. I was in my formative years when we watched our first war on TV, Viet Nam. Now, I can talk to my youngest daughter who lives in Okinawa face to face on Skype for free! When I was stationed in Alaska in the army in the 1960s it cost me $50 to talk for ten minutes to my Mom long distance on the phone. At the time I was making $75 a month. With this change has come the concept that nothing is private, or sacred any longer. It all comes out now that everyone has a camera on their phone and "Twits" (haven't succumbed to that yet).


With the danger of being called the "old fogey" that I probably am, am not sure I think all this is good for us. It was nice in the past that there was a little "mystery" to life. Not that I really care about who is "doing who" but think it was a lot nicer when we did not have to hear all the sordid details of our past President's sex lives. Still think that our secret services, i.e., CIA, etc. should be able to keep some secrets. Really do not know what I am trying to say here. Yes it is good that some things are more clear for us, but maybe everything need not be. And, if congress wants to know everything, then maybe they ought to get off their collective asses and get something done rather than constantly working only for their next reelection!


As for films . . .  Have seen many since my last blog so will only mention a few that I liked. Most notably was the most recent, Mud, with Matthew McConnaghy. It is an excellent character study. It doesn't have any major explosions or CGI but very good acting and character development. It is a modern day "Huck Finn" of sorts. It will in all likelihood be too slow for most. Another good movie is directed by and stars Robert Redford, The Company You Keep. It deals with the FBI finally catching up with the 60s "weatherman" terrorists, or trying to. Susan Sarandon turns herself in after her children are grown and it snowballs from there. It is an especially interesting film for we of that generation. Place Beyond the Pines is another film with extraordinary performances by actors Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper. This is a slow developing dramatic experience, not for those who are "action junkies." Of course there is the biographic film 42, about Jackie Robinson, the first black player in major league baseball. It was very well done. Again the performances are excellent. I liked it quite a bit. I saw numerous other films during my hiatus from blogging but choose not to mention them here.


That's about it from Flagstaff, AZ. The next edition of this blog, if there is another, will come from Yellowstone National Park.

Cheers all!

Another Birthday! What again?

Howdy Folks,

I do not seem to be very diligent at this blog stuff any more. It is not like I do not have the time what with being retired and all. Mostly, it is just about motivation. As the blog title "Curmudgeon" would indicate I should be railing about something, but lately there have been so many things that tend to irritate that I have been hesitant to go on and on about them. In fact, this last month leading up to the aforementioned anniversary of my birth has been pretty good on a personal level. No, I do not mean I have a "love life" after a couple of years. I am fairly certain that part of my life is over. But, little things have been going relatively well.

To start off with, I got a pretty good size tax return and have been putting it to good use with some changes to my condo that I had wanted to do for awhile. Secondly, I played the "age card" with my HOA and got my carport parking spot moved closer. It is more sheltered from the weather. The space I switched with was one from an unoccupied condo (1 1/2 years) that had been a repo by the bank. Lastly, there has been decent snow fall, off and on, and I have gotten to go XC skiing more than last winter. All-in-all these may seem to be small things but they have contributed to a bit better outlook on my part. In addition, both of my lovely daughters and their families seem to be doing well and this contributes to my better view of the world as well.

As for films, I have seen a few since my last review, many were not really noteworthy. The most recent, in fact, today on my birthday was Stand-up Guys featuring Christopher Walken, Al Pacino, and Alan Arkin. It did not get good reviews but I enjoyed it. Guess I liked the "old" criminals getting back together. Last week I saw Quartet, Dustin Hoffman's first directorial effort about aged musicians living in a retirement home for same. This film featured several "older" British actors to include Maggie Smith and Tom Courtney. Although, again one with mixed reviews, I thought it a wonderful small offering, especially for this time of the year when there is a dearth of good movies. The absolute worst film I've seen lately was A Good Day to Die Hard. Bruce Willis needs to give up this series. I liked the others but this one was garbage. Side Effects turned out to be a half way decent thriller, not what I expected. Second worst film was Stallone's Bullet to the Head. Broken City was disappointing as was Parker. Lastly, Gangster Squad was entertaining, kind of a throw back to the Untouchables.

So you see . . . this blog is a fairly mundane and boring one but I felt I should get one out there even if I did not have much to say.

Cheers and Adios from wintry downtown Flagstaff!

Post Holiday, New Year, and my Annual Film Rankings

Good Morning Folks and Feliz Anos, or Happy New Year!


The holidays gave me a lot of good family time in my old home state of California. I spent the most amount of time with my daughter, three grandsons and son-in-law that I have gotten in recent past Christmas's. As usual I stayed with my sister Norma and her husband Scott and had again a great reception and cordial visit. Their hospitality and kindness to me is unmeasurable.

Norma & Scott Nash

The weather in southern Cal was rather cool and down right chilly at night. We had a bit of rain a couple of days but no where near as bad as a couple of years ago when the whole time I was there we experienced a deluge. Christmas Day was sunny and clear with both my sisters, Norma and Marlena, her daughter, my niece, Ashley Louise, bro-in-law Scott and my brother Russell all in attendance for Christmas Dinner. With Russell in the area there is no lack of mirth. Later, in the early evening I visited daughter Tania and her family. Only difficult thing is not seeing my other daughter Natasha and her husband Jason around the holidays. However, Skype helps a lot.

Brother Russell & Me

All-in-all it was a great holiday. One striking thing was the amount of growth in my middle grandson (13) Cole since last I saw him in September. He has grown at least 5 inches and is as tall as his 16 year old brother Zac, the firstborn. They are all growing fast and are great young men.

Cole & his pet pineapple with Torin & Zac

I know this blog does not have much in the way of curmudgeonlyness ( a word I think I just made up) but it is a new year and you can expect quite a bit of grumpiness yet to come in future blogs.

Now to the important part, my top films as seen by me in theaters for 2012. I must make a note here that one of these films was seen yesterday but was in limited release in December. In the past these have not made it in but I am making an exception here since I endeavored to go see what turned out to be my top film in the first week of January, so am giving it a waiver to be included.

1.  Zero Dark Thirty, it also wins my best director, Kathryn Bigalow, best actress, Jessica Chastain, and best screenplay.

2.  Lincoln, winning my best actor, Daniel Day Lewis

3.  Argo, runner-up best director, Ben Afflek, best supporting actor, Alan Arkin

4.  Django Unchained

5.  Silver Linings Playbook, runner-up best actress, Jennifer Lawerence, runner-up best sup. actor       Robert Deniro

6.  End of Watch

7.  Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, runner - up best supporting actress' Judi Dench and Maggie Smith

8.  Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

9.  Skyfall

10. Perks of Being a Wallflower

Honorable mention:  Looper, Moonrise Kingdom, Bourne Legacy, 7 Psychopaths, Amazing Spiderman, & Arbitrage. I viewed 65 films this year in theaters.

In addition I did not pick a supporting actress in my top films because she was in a movie I hated, Le Miserables. As a general rule I do not like musicals, but have enjoyed some in the past, i.e., Hair (not the movie the stage play), and Chicago was OK as were a few others. But, I have to recognize the acting in this film Le Miz as they call it. It was excellent for the whole cast, especially that of Anne Hathaway, my best supporting actress of the year 2012.

Thats it for now from very chilly downtown Flagstaff. Again I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Cheers!