I'm Up, So What the Hell . . .

Good Very Early Morning Folks!

I awakened at about 3:30am this morning and could not get back to sleep. I peered out my bedroom window and low and behold, SNOW. Not just a little bit of the white stuff but a fair amount. As I sit here two hours later, it is still snowing. I love the stuff but I have taken off the ski racks from my car and stored the skis. There was even a week and a half of weather that put me into my short sleeve shirts.

Most people in Flagstaff have been ready for Spring. They do not want snow. Funny thing is, this has been a very light winter compared to last. In fact, I was only able to cross-country ski about 1/4 as much as last winter. What most of these folks say is that they would rather have rain (which is what we got yesterday, with a little sleety snow). My preference is snow over rain. You can brush off the white stuff but rain can soak you. At any rate, the snow will not last, forecast for Monday is temps in the 60s again.

But, speaking of all of this, I am down to less than a month before my departure for the job in Yellowstone. Why do I mention this at this point? Well, they have had a ton of snow up there this winter and are still getting pounded with it. I will break into winter-like weather again when I get there early in May. We always had errant snow storms in May when I worked in the Tetons, sometimes in June as well. I imagine the snow on the sides of the road near the south entrance to Yellowstone will have been plowed to the level of about 6-8 feet and that they will have to use a front loader to make pathways to our quarters. I love it!

The last couple of months I have had two physical exams, one through the VA and the other a "Welcome to Medicare" physical with my new non-VA doctor. In addition, this week, I had a colonoscopy. Next week my dental check-up is on the agenda. So far, everything looks good. I seem to be in excellent health, all things considered. All of this, along with getting my car serviced has gotten be going in my 65th year, and ready to leave for 5 months in Wyoming.

Before heading north I am going west to southern California next week to visit family. I am anxious to see my daughter, grandsons and sisters. The boys are getting older and taller and I am feeling more "Gramps-like" everyday. My hope is to spend some quality time with them, but with Zac being 14 and Cole 12, they may have other interests that will not coincide with spending too much time with a "geezer." Oh, they will be happy to see me but will race off to be with friends shortly after greeting me. That is only to be expected. Perhaps Torin, the youngest will be more amenable to being with Gramps.

I have noticed a corollary to something my now deceased friend, John, told me after he retired. He said, and I have mentioned this before, "once you retire it is like you become invisible," or words to that affect. But, it is not only retiring that makes you invisible, it is getting older as well. I have noticed that most people ignore seniors as they do the "homeless." It may be one of the reasons that many in this grouping become so outspoken, they just want to be seen/recognized. Many younger people just want us to fade into the background. We are considered to be a hassle to have around. I remember when I was much younger how we kids could not wait to see my grandpa, but my mother always dreaded their visits. Some may feel we should just go out on the ice and wait for death as they did in many Inuit (Eskimo) cultures in the past. Don't count on it folks, there are way more "Baby Boomers" than the rest of you!

I guess that is enough of a "Geezer rant" for now. As for movies since last we met in these pages, I cannot say they have gotten much better, but I persist in going to them. It is part of my nature. However, I did see a couple I liked. The Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew McConnaghy was a pretty decent legal thriller. Limitless was not too bad either. Battle LA was more a live action video game but somewhat entertaining if you suspend reality and think of it as fantasy. Paul was amusing but some people made the mistake of taking children to it. The humor is a bit raunchy for that demographic. I liked Source Code with Jake Gillyanhall and Megan Monhaghn. The film was interesting and the acting was good. Yesterday I went to see Hanna, and even though Cate Blanchett, one of my favorite actors was in it, it was not a good film.

Thats about it from Snowy Flagstaff.

Cheers everyone!