California and Back!

Hey Folks,



I'm back in Flagstaff after about 8 days in partially sunny southern California. It rained a couple of those days, one of which was while I was attending my grandson Zac's baseball game last Tuesday. The umpires let it go to the 5th inning. Thought they stopped baseball for rain, guess I'm getting old. In all, between the three grandsons, I went to 7 games. It was good seeing the boys. They have grown substantially since my last visit in September. Zac has sprouted up and become a lot leaner. He is no longer the small guy on his teams and now that he is 13, a full blown teenager with all that comes with that.

Zac, Torin & Cole

I stayed with my sister Norma and "her guy," Scott. He is the nicest guy you would ever want to meet and as cordial a host as is my sister. They are a good complement to each other. I told her she made a good choice to finish out life. He is a kind man and shows in many small ways how much he cares for her.

Of course I had many good meals prepared by my eldest daughter Tania. She is excellent in that regard and I enjoy her company and my son-in-law Steve's, when he is around. He is always at work, or coaching/managing all the ball teams the boys are involved with. They are good parents.

So, I'm back in Flagstaff and getting into the "swing of spring." It looks like I may have a new "romantic" interest as well. Her name is Joanne and we have been acquaintances for a bit but have turned things up a notch upon my return. We spoke quite a bit on the phone while I was in California. It is kind of "May/December" thing if you know that reference (she is 42). Today was her birthday and she took the day off so we spent most of it together. We had fun and laughed a lot. That will probably "titillate" some your interests since she is a bare 2 months older than my eldest and a matter of a couple of days older than niece Kimberly. But she is interested. What can I say?

No word from the Park Service so my days as a Ranger are probably over. It was a good run and I will still visit the Tetons this summer.

Movies: I went to what I thought were three good independent films while in California. The first, Greenberg, featured Ben Stiller in a different kind of role as somewhat despicable 40 year old house sitting his brother's place in Calif. This is a good performance by him but not an especially "up" kind of film. I liked it and do not usually like his stuff. The second, The Joneses, with Demi Moore and David Decovney (sp) was an interesting comment on consumerism in the US. They part of a put together family that goes into affluent neighborhoods to live and display all of their new gadgets, getting their neighbors to buy them through peer pressure. The last one I saw was the best of a good lot. That one was City Island with Andy Garcia and Julianne Marggules from The Good Wife and ER . It is about a NY family living in an Island part of the Bronx. They are a pretty dysfunctional group, but fun to watch. The young son is fixated on really large women and is on the Internet looking for those sites. Garcia's character is a prison guard who secretly goes to acting classes while telling his wife he is playing poker. All these films were thoroughly enjoyable viewing.

Adios for now!