Another Sunday Morning in Flagstaff . . . Good Morning Folks!


After a few inches of snow last weekend it has warmed up here in the mountains. Yesterday it was 51 degrees, practically summer. I hurried out last Monday to ski on the fresh stuff and it was excellent. The slopes of the AZ Snow Bowl (downhill skiing) have been so full on the weekends they have had to close them to further traffic up the mountain by about 9am. The folks from the valley head up here in droves. This long weekend for some is no exception.


I know that I have been remiss in blogging for a while. It is just that I haven't really been in the mood. My friend John Haynes died almost two weeks ago and it has hit me pretty hard. He had given up on his "chemo" treatments and wanted to go home to Prescott. I visited him Monday two weeks ago, as did many others, and he died the following night.


John was not only a good friend but he was my mentor at Yavapai College as well. I knew him for 36 years, one of my oldest friends. He was there right after my youngest, Natasha, was born and he and his wife Carolyn were at her wedding a little over a year ago. We hiked/backpacked many a trail in the Grand Canyon together. In fact he was the one most responsible for getting me in the canyon in the first place. He was my first Liberal Arts Division Chair at the college and I was his division chair when he retired. If we had been cowboys (he was raised in Kingman, AZ) I would say we rode many a trail together. Even though he was a life long atheist, I wish him happy trails. He was only 75 and in very good shape when I visited him in September. We will honor his life tomorrow at a memorial in Prescott.


As for other news . . . Natasha and Jason's progress toward moving to Okinawa for his government job took a few steps toward fruition this past Friday. We went down to Luke Air Force base for his "physical" and some preliminary processing for their flight and movement of their household goods. The only thing holding up movement forward is getting his official orders. The government moves slowly. Right now their tentative date for flying out is March 18th. They are very excited about this new adventure.


My life is plugging along as usual. Near the end of next week I will be 64 years old, another milestone along life's path. As much as my daughter likes to deny it, I think I am officially old now. I know, "you are only as old as you feel!" Well, I look in the mirror and I am there . . . as they said on the old Seinfeld show, "not that there is anything wrong with that."


Movies: The highlight of the films viewd lately was Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges in the featured role of an old country singer, much like Merle Haggard or Waylon Jennings. He is absolutely great in it and has won the Golden Globe and SAG awards for best actor. I concur with these accolades and feel he should take the Oscar as well. In addition, I have seen Edge of Darkness with Mel Gibson in his first acting film in a few years and Extraordinary Measures with Harrison Ford. They were both entertaining in their way but not great films. The latter was surprisingly good even though a bit of a "tear jerker."


Well, that's about it from beautiful, and sunny downtown Flagstaff garden spot of AZ!


Adios Amigos y Amigas!