Winter in Arizona

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to pull four As again this semester. My proudest A is the one in US History. The one in English was harder to earn than I initially thought. The A in Computer Essentials should be a B, but I won't complain. That A will give me an excuse to practice my skills more.

Next semester I'll be taking more history and English courses, and a course on Digital Photography. I'm not sure I'll learn all that much, but the instructor is a local pro and well-liked by students. Even some of my photography friends have recommended him. I've already dug out all my Canon dSLRs and sorted through the lenses. One thing I want to learn more about is shooting in RAW format and learning more advanced Photoshop techniques. If anything, this course will fulfill my "Arts" requirement should I go the Associates Degree route in history, although what I need to focus on is getting upper-degree courses completed in the near future.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a long hike up Carr Canyon Road with the dogs. Today was a great day to stay inside, start tidying up, and cuddle with a good book and a thick down blanket. Kevin left this morning for a week in his home state of Massachusetts. He called two hours ago to say he landed safely and is amazed at how much his old neighborhood has changed. He has not been back to Boston since we left the East Coast in 2004. He was long overdue on a family visit.

I will spend Christmas with my mother this year. I owe her that much.

A winter storm was forecasted for today and tonight. Winds have been blowing since sun rise and have been persistent all day. Grey clouds have dominated the skies. Not even the dogs want to stay outside. Birds have stayed low to the ground getting fat on our bird seed.

I've been busy washing loads of clothes that had been forgotten about in a bedroom corner (thanks to Reina who used that corner as a bed) and clothes found in the garage under boxes that the cats had dropped after nights of rampages. With Kevin gone for a few days, I can also clean out the frig and oven. I just hope I can make enough progress in the next few days as I still plan on leaving for Indiana by the 27th...by car.

I'm not sure driving to Indiana is such a wise decision. I do like the countryside and driving affords me the opportunity to stop whenever I want to, to take a break and to chat with store owners. But this trip will be on the interstate, across the boring plains of north Texas into Dallas and from there across Arkansas...a route I know all to well from my years living in CenTex.

I'm looking forward to two days of solitude. I'm not looking forward to the travel although seeing the family again will be nice, especially little Ethan who's looking more and more like his mom every day.

Billowing storm clouds are blowing across the mountains as I write this. Darkness has already set, so I will have to wait another 14 hours to discover whether we got more snow in the mountains or not.

The neighborhood looks so desertd this year compared to last year when most of the homes around us were occupied. Houses all around us had holiday lights on , this year this place looks abandoned. The few lit-up homes are a minority here this year. Even I don't have lights on the ocotillo this year. I simply never got around to stringing them up.

School closures

I read with shock of the closing of Apache Middle School in town. Why?!?! The town has a growing student rate and we don't have the money to build more schools. Where will the students now enrolled there go for next school year? And where will the teachers go?

I have realized that I'm entering the teaching profession at the worst possible time. Perhaps I should just give up any hopes of being a full-time teacher and going straight into researching as a historian. Of course, that means two more years of training anyway.

This proposed closure is due in part to the governor's proposal to reduce the state's funding for public education by 15%, translating to a local funding shortfall of $1,900,000. Closing this school will allegedly save the district about $663,000. A district-wide salary cut of 5% is also being proposed, as well as the standard cut in basic supplies. The district still needs to make more cuts of over $2 million...

www.svherald.com/content/news/2009/12/04/breaking-news-apache-middle-school-closure-halt-sports-funding-are-proposed

A winter storm!

It rumbled earlier this morning and when I looked outside it was drizzling. The mountains were shrouded in grey and the temperatuers were dropping. When I took the dogs out for their run in the foothills my hands were cold; first time this season. We needed what little rain we got.

The storm warning started at 6pm and will continue through tomorrow night, with snow above 5000'. I have to remember to bring in the rest of my plants before they freeze to death. I don't have enough leaves to keep the smaller plants warm.

The birds were busy all day today eating the seeds I had out for them. What a feathered feast we had in our front yard!

I have been fighting a chest cold these last two days. I'm coughing up phlegm balls bigger than gum balls. Tonight my throat feels raw as well. This is not a good time to get sick as I have finals starting this week.

It's been a tough semester

It's been almost two weeks since I last posted here? How time has gone by.

I will admit that this was no easy semester. I don't think I was this challenged for quite a while. What started out in August as a slap of reality (getting a "C" on an English paper!) has turned into a demanding workload of literally learning how to write research papers again. I woke up and studied hard. Had being away from school all these years really made me lazy? And since when do I get "Cs" in English?

After several re-writes and deeper reflections I've since then gotten two As, one B, and today my highest score yet, a 94 (A) and a comment by my instructor that he really, really liked my work. Everything flowed except my MLA citations. I had not cited in proper format. DING! I lost six points right there. Unless I mess up terribly on the final I should finish this English course with a low A. Despite my early disappointments I must admit that my instructor has always been firm and fair with my writing and I've picked up some tips from him. There were times I even drove home after a lecture inspired to write the next great American short story or poem.

I'll remember my English instructor as the tall, thin, quiet man who wears brown-leather sailboat shoes without socks, who spoke little in class but when he did, he spoke with significance. He remembered our names after the first week, something I admired him as some of my Education instructors struggled for weeks just to memorize our initials. When he wore socks last week I knew the weather had turned to autumn. When he complimented me today on my work, I was ready to scream with relief. I finally wrote a paper he considered near-perfect!

Research writing and analytical writing is not quite as easy for me as creative writing. I'll stick to creative writing.

Then I got a "C" in my Computer Essentials class. I was ready to drop that course last week but hung on until my last grade came in. My research paper pushed my grade up from a low B to a low A. I could really pull a low A in that class afterall. The instructor, who sometimes talked too fast for my pace as I lagged behind trying to understand computer lingo, also has turned out to be a compassionate mentor who told me from the beginning that I was worried too much about that first (and only) "C" in that class. I didn't want to listen to her, but now I realize that she was right. What I need more than anything is to practice more with my computer skills and go over lessons I've struggled with earlier. It's not that I'm incompetent, but some of the skills were so foreign to me that I couldn't grasp everything in a two-week period.

And then there is my history instructor, a smallish man with an earstud in his left ear. I have no idea what he thinks of me (he's not one to give back feedback on our work), but he is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to US history. Despite his liberal leanings I admire him for his passion and his ability to infect me with wanting to know more about our own troubled past.

I managed to pull good grades out of this semester despite my course load, my many hours at school during the flu pandemic (which has died back in the last two weeks) and my chores at home with three anxious dogs and two very sick cats.

This wasn't an easy semester for me. My weekends in the mountains were my only relief. I've made some good friends and I've learned so much, but it came at a price in my homelife. I still think of Reina as I remember her in her last hour, I still think of Vinnie as she struggled for life in the end, and sometimes I still fight the demons in me that ask what took her from me. I miss them both. I cried for both, yet here I am still going strong despite their absences. Sometimes I amaze myself.

The Queen is dead

She died around 4pm yesterday of kidney failure. Although she had been losing weight over the year, and despite a few weeks of remission, her last few days were spent suffering. I couldn't let her continue in agony.

She entered the hospital Tuesday night. At first the diagnosis was "stress" and that more tests would continue the next day, but by Wednesday no progress was made. By Thursday morning I got the call to come to the hospital to see Reina and she looked worse than before, lying there, barely able to move her head. She could no longer meow. After a painful hug and some quiet time alone, where I thanked her for the great 12.5 years together, I let her go.

She was a fighter to the end. As small as she was she took on the big dogs, defending her adopted kittens from the evil dogs.

We don't know how long she had this disease. It was never discovered by the vet the two times she was in the clinic earlier this year. "Hyperthyroidism can hide other diseases" said Dr Davis, the gently doctor who gave Reina the final shot. Reina only had days to live and I couldn't see her lying there, unable to move, barely able to see or respond. Although I could feel her lungs move whenever I called out her name (she always responded with a quiet meow whenever I called her), those final moments were just spent holding her. She felt so cold, so skinny with just her matted fur hiding her skeleton.

She was a good cat, and didn't deserve to die this way. But I have closure with her.

She was always a sickly cat, all her life, and never weighed more than eight pounds. A few days ago she weighed in at barely three. That she lived so long is perhaps a miracle.

I will miss my Queen. I can still see her painful face looking at me through the cage that final hour. Tears swell up in me just remembering her like that.

Our first winter storm?

I had a great weekend up in the Fossil Creek Wilderness with two Hoosier friends, (http://dogsnotonmywindshield.blogspot.com/2009/10/verde-river-valley.html) but now am back to another week of humdrum. Now a cold front from Alaska is due by tomorrow, bringing cold winds. By Wednesday we'll get cold rains and snow in the higher (5000' and up) elevations. Will that front dip south far enough to affect us, or will it linger between Tucson and Phoenix, like many storms do, because of the high mountain ranges that surround the Valley of the Sun?

I called Linda to let her know that she and Mike may be better off to leave earlier rather than later, as that area is prone to flash floodings and her van will have a hard time making it up the dirt road for six miles. I left her a message on her cell phone. She won't get that message until she reaches high ground. Hopefully they will do that before tomorrow.

Time to get my tomatoes picked and my strawberries covered for the season. The cold is coming early this season.

The flu continues

School is back in session this week and with it the calls to come in. Yesterday I worked half a day at the middle school where, once again, one of the gals recognized me from the Bisbee era. She was now at this school because she had gotten expelled from the other school through the fall. In the meantime, she's in town with her dad.

When I had her last year she was a feisty preteen. Although she talked back to me, I liked her. Coming from divorced parents she was fighting her own wars and gave her leeway. What eventually got her expelled is her temper. She fights with anyone who crosses her.

Still, she is a sweet person once you get to know her, and when I had time we chatted.

"We'll talk later!" she said with a smile as school was let go for the day.

Today I thought I was going back to that school, but instead got a call for High School English. This means I can wear the same outfit as yesterday's!

The kids from yesterday were pistols. One class was aghast when they learned that I didn't watch TV in the evenings. Now that TV stations have converted to HDTV, all we get is KVOA-NBC out of Tucson, on our 20-year-old black-and-white TV. It's enough for the morning, mid-day and evening news, and any special documentary NBC may show, but I've gotten so used to not getting interrupted by TV anymore. I enjoy the more quiet evenings.

But not being interested in reality TV shocked many of the kids. "What do you do in your spare time?" asked one boy. Oh please! So I rattled off my interests: "I hike, I travel, I garden, I read, watch documentaries and do a lot of research for my college courses!" That did not impress too many youngsters.

Hurricane Rick died to a tropical storm sooner than expected. Although I see southern storm clouds over the horizon, no rain is forecasted for us. It's breezy outside but at 6am it was still 62F; still warmer than usual for this time of year. Cooler temps are predicted for later this week. I don't have class tonight but need to spend some time back in the library as I have two papers due in two weeks. I want to do well.

The Bisbee Stair Climb

This 3-mile run around Bisbee's old stairs is such a fun event. Every third Saturday in October this event takes place. With today's warmer-than-usual temperatures and sunny skies it was an especially well-attended event.

But in some ways it wasn't as well organized as it could have been. Granted, I didn't pre-register for this event, paid $50 (!) to participate, and for that price I got a bib number that had been replicated, and the man who wore the other bib number by the same number (1755) got to wear the chip timer. For $50 I got three gulps of water, an apple and half a banana. And because I didn't get a chip timer, I ran without an official time. If I wanted an event t-shirt I would have had to pay an additional $15. No thanks!

Volunteers work hard for this special events so I'm not going to pounce on them, but the organizers did run out of water at the finish line. If participants wanted to eat anything substantial after the event, they were strongly encouraged to buy stuff from the Bisbee market, where Budweiser sold for $3 a plastic cup. (Even Chuck, one of the organizers, said to the crowd "You can't be magnetic and drink Bud!")

There was a large turn-out for this run. The three-mile course runs through Old Bisbee and targets the five longest stair climbs, thus the name of this event. (Although only about 15% actually goes to maintaining the historic stairs, most monies collected go toward the Boys and Girls Club of Bisbee and for the all-male drug detox center south of town.) This is my fourth Bisbee 1000 and I've yet to see ANY improvements on the old crumbling stairs around Old Bisbee.

The growing number of participants is now causing bottlenecks at every stair climb. At the second climb off Main Street one of the volunteers yelled at us to "Move Over!" but on the narrow stairs there wasn't much room to "move over" for the faster climbers on the left.

We jogged, walked and ran all over the ridges of Bisbee. Local musicians got out and played their music for us, some of which was quite good: blues, rocky tunes and bluegrass were dominant styles. A local band, "Train Wreck" played old rock and blues tunes at the finish area by the old Courthouse, where the old Bisbee Market pushed its food and drinks on people. I didn't buy anything because of the high entrance fee for this event.

This run reminds me of a smaller version of the San Francisco Bay-to-Breakers event, although here in conservative southern Arizona you wouldn't see naked old men running down the street because the Arizona Rangers and Sheriff deputies would arrest those in a nano-second. There were a few costumed groups today, the pink Mashed Potato Ladies and the Caped Crusaders out of Tuscon, of which one well-built man was docked in leopard leggins and leopard Speedos with a US flag draped around him.

There were many joggers and walkers who finished almost an hour after I was done, and I walked around the event area to watch people, video some of the cooler sites, and listen to "Train Wreck," a local blues-rock band. A group of nurses dressed in blue t-shirts danced a few nice scores with the enthusiasm of a homecoming cheer-leading team. They were fun to watch.

A woman right behind me near the courthouse square went into an epileptic seizure. The paramedics were right there to tend to her and she was taken away quickly by ambulance. She was still in seizure mode when she was taken away.

I didn't run fast at all. Some of the nine-year-old girls ran faster than I did, but I wasn't expecting to break any records since I haven't trained for this nor have I been jogging like I used to. But I did better than expected although my lungs still gave out after a few steep stairs. Which has me wondering if my doctor is right when he surmised that I may have late-onset asthma? I didn't have this trouble before going to Iraq.

I stayed in town till the awards were passed out. The youngest participant was a five-year-old boy, the oldest was a 79-year-old man although there were many 70-something-year-old women who weren't recognized. The farthest person traveled claimed he was from Vermont, although he looked suspiciously like an active-duty officer stationed at nearby Fort Huachuca.

I didn't come back home till 1:30pm feeling beat. Will I do this event again next year? Maybe, but only as a pre-register because $50 for day-of-event registration is rather steep.

http://www.bisbee1000.org/

http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2009/10/18/bisbee-1000-when-picture-worth-thousand-steps

Chiricahua National Monument

On Saturday I took eight other hikers on a nine-plus mile hike around the Monument, a loop trail that took us from the Massai Point to the Heart-of-Rocks loop back up the Rhyolite Canyon. This hike took us six hours with several water stops, but we couldn't have asked for a better day weather-wise. In the brutal Arizona summers this hike would have been ~HOT~.

I car-pooled with Hanna and Steve to the Monument, with Brenda, Gordon and Georgie in another car behind us. Paul, Marcia and Victor met us at the Monument. At 9:40am we were ready to start our loop, with mild temperatures and a grey overcast sky. Temperatures were in the mild 70s for most of the hike, ideal hiking weather.

Our starting elevation was 6200' at the parking lot. The highest was 6800' at Heart-of-Rocks and the lowest 5800' in the canyon.

I hadn't been to this place since 2003 and honestly didn't remember the up-and-down elevations of this loop, a combination of several trails from the trailhead. The Ed Riggs trail took us down .7 miles around a switchback, then we followed the eastern loop toward Inspiration Point. We came across a juvenile rattler here, a lone snake that was more scared of us as we were of it. (It scammered up a rock and disappeared into a narrow slot to evade us). Lots of various lizards also scammered around the rocks throughout the day.

Inspiration Point was not on my itinerary but everyone wanted to hike this one-mile out-and-back trail for the vistas of red pinnacles and the direct view of Cochise Head. This added another 40 minutes to our hike. We then resumed our up-and-down hike to the Heart of Rocks loop, where balanced rocks became more prominent as we slowly got out of Rhyolite Canyon and on a more exposed and open plateau with views of the yellowing aspens in the nearby Chiricahua National Forest.

It was here, just before the Heart-of-Rocks loop that we took a lunch break, enjoying the views and chatting. The towering rocks around us truly was impressive. I had forgotton how beautiful this place is. We passed rock formations with such names as "Duck Rock, Camelhead Rock, Old Maid, Kissing Rocks, Punch and Judy" and of course the many round-topped pinnacles that years ago would have reminded me of penises but today resemble more cow paddies.

As hike leader I was a little nervous about taking the people on the entire loop as planned. I didn't want to tire them out. My write-up, directly from the book "Hiking in Arizona's Cactus Country" listed this hike as 8.4 miles, but did not include Inspiration Point and the 1.1 loop around Heart-of-Rocks. We hiked more like ten miles, stopping for water and for letting the rear group catch up with the faster people up front. No one seemed to mind the long hike, as we all enjoyed the views and the rocks from various angles. As hike leader I stayed in the middle, making sure everyone made it to resting points and that no one was left behind.

A horse-mounted park ranger stopped to chat with us near Heart-of-Rocks loop. He had started out in the ranch in the valley, and his horse looked sweaty from the climb up. He does this loop daily, looking for injured hikers and hikers who are hiking with dogs. (It's a $100 fine and a misdemeanor for hiking here with dogs). The many loose rocks on the trail make this section of the monument especially treacherous for clumsy hikers like myself, but no one fell or stumbled today. Brenda and I left our dogs at home for this hike, as much as we both hated being without our four-legged pals.

Illegals now also are found in the Monument, but most of them more in the valley below.

We hiked a continuous downhill after Heart-of-Rocks, hiking in a westerly direction as the pinnacles opened up around us. This was a fun hike in the shady Rhyolite Canyon, but the creek was dry and we seemed to keep on going downhill. What goes down must come up, and according to Gordon we had descended 1000 feet before heading back uphill on the Echo Canyon trail for our final three miles back to the trailhead.

Although this was a challenging hike, I never felt at any time that this hike was strenuous. The hardest part was the first mile going back up the Echo Canyon trail, but once we hit the Hailstone trail we were more on a level ridgeline with the canyon below us. We got back to the parking lot at 4:10pm.

Marcia and Victor stayed at the park since they were camped there, but the rest of us drove back home, stopping in Willcox for dinner at a mediocre Mexican restaurant "Fiesta Siesta" (or something like that)where a bottle of Corona with my enchiladas was $3.75. Food was bland, too, but the company was great. I love having beer and dinner with the hiking group after a good, strenuous hike.

I was very pleased with this hike. I was especially pleased with the turn-out for this hike. I didn't think there would be too many people interested in driving two hours one-way to hike nearly ten miles, (let alone pay $5 a person to enter the Monument) but in the end discovered there are plenty of hiking enthusiasts willing to go out of their way to romp around the pinnacles. Once I got home I realized that the hike we did was more like the "Big Loop" of 9.5 miles, traveling the perimeter of the Monument except for the far northern section of Echo Canyon.

http://www.amwest-travel.com/awt_chiricahua1.html

http://www.nps.gov/chir/upload/Trail%20Guide%2008.pdf

A record was set!

I've now worked three straight weeks at the schools because of the flu. Although the peaks' behind us now, these extra hours are a godsend, since I'm using all the money to pay off my huge US History documentary collection I've amassed via amazon.com.

I've had all subject matters, from history and English to social studies to severely-profound learning disabled students. My style's gotten better as I seem to have less behavior issues with the ages now (compared to last year in Bisbee, for example). Or maybe I'm just taking my job more seriously now that I'm certified to teach?

At any rate these long hours are starting to show on me. Next week's fall break and I'm looking forward to the days off! I have time to focus on my research papers and other errands, like get the home internet connection fixed.

My old friend Jackie's back subbing as well. I hadn't seen her until today when she was a few classrooms from me, but I didn't have a chance to chat with her over lunch because of our individual lunch schedules. She's still not full-time employed at her former job, which is why she's still with the school.

I enjoy being a teacher and I enjoy mentoring these young minds. "Bad" days don't upset me so much anymore, and now it's more like having a "bad hour" rather than a bad day.

Autumn has arrived. High winds blew across the desert at 4am and it looked like rain, but instead we had a breezy day that never got warmer than 77F. The trees in the valley haven't changed colors yet, either. They just turn brown and drop off like our sycamores and maples this year because we never got those late-summer rains.

The flu

The seasonal flu kept me busy these last two weeks, making my free time for college a little hectic. I spent the last four days last week at one middle school in town hard-hit with the flu.

I've gotten better as a teacher, compared to my rough start last year in Bisbee. I met another teacher at the school, also a retired army person, who's working on her master's right now. She hated the high school and declined that place for the middle school, saying that her years as a drill sergeant did nothing in the classroom.

"I thought it would be easy being a drill sergeant, but I had no control over them!" she exclaimed. I felt the same way. It took over a year to relearn how to treat students not like exploitable young soldiers, but as young impressionable minds.

The highlight of the day was Friday afternoon, filling in that last hour for a 7th grade class. Of all the students I have had, one of the worst ones from Bisbee was in that class, now sporting a mouth stud and colored black hair that shimmers blue in the light. She was a hellion last year and she hasn't changed much in the past year. I'm wondering if she got expelled from Bisbee and sent to this town?

I do feel sorry for the girl as she doesn't have a father at home, but her careless ways about her education do get to me. In the end only her mother can teach her the importance of a good education, not any teacher.

Another week's gone by...

And I worked three days, two of with were for high school science. I really like that subject, but it's obvious how much has changed since I was in school. We never learned about genetics or gene therapy and all the discoveries with chromosomes since then. I'm looking forward to my college-level biology course next semester just to get back into the mode.

But some basics never change. One of the requirements for one of the classes required that the students write an outline of what the chapter covered.

"What's an outline?" asked one boy.

And one girl, who never did want to stop chatting (without opening her book to the lesson) walked out of class because she refused to do any work. It's no surprise that later I learned she was one of those jock girls who demands respect from everyone, even teachers, and if she doesn't get it--telling her to be quiet is disrespect--she walks out. Her online name is "Ghetto Chick." Figures.

"That's just the way she is" said the teacher to me. Even her classmates were glad she had left the room.

I am slowly making my rounds back through the schools. Friday I was back at a middle school and one of the 7th graders remembered me. This was a math class but no class is going to be paying attention on a Friday afternoon. Many of the students were more concerned with what looked like rain outside. A few drops fell and the kids panicked.

I hiked with a group up Miller Peak yesterday. Now I've bagged two peaks right here in the neighborhood. Wildflowers are still in bloom.

But slowly, ever slowly, the nighttime temperatures are dropping. It was in the 50s this morning. The back garden already looks dead. Soon I can focus on the winter crop.

My first day back in the classroom

Today was my first day back at the high school. I subbed for the theater department. Both the tech crew and the teacher were wonderful. I filled in for half a day.

One of the performing arts crew members, Mr Kline, proudly told me that his students have won many awards over the 30 years he's been with the district. "My students have been to China, in Europe, at Disneyworld..." The students called him "Coach."

The students were well behaved. Some recognized me from last year. "I like you!" "You're cool!" and a few other accolades came my way, although I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. The students were self-driven and worked on their tasks., whether it was setting up a stage or performing their lines. The first performance for the school acting club is next week.

I was rewarded in the end by watching the performance crew do a few improvisational skits during the last hour. Some of the acting was quite good. A few of the students stood out as creative artists, wearing ties with t-shirts and French caps.

I got to meet Mike again, and saw a few other familiar faces, but during lunch I ate alone and then hurried back to the theater room.

Mike and I briefly chatted about our summer break. He was recently in Mexico filming a nature film when he was surrounded by Mexican police holding automatic weapons toward his face. "That was the first time my legs shuck. That place (Mexico) has gotten weird" he added. Luckily he was able to find out that 11 people had been kidnapped and found hatcheted to death on the road he was held up. With his good Spanish he was able to convince the cops that he was not a drug runner. When Mike says that Mexico has gotten bad, then it's gotten bad!

A few changes were made over the summer with teachers' work schedules. Many no longer get a planning period and are expected to fill in for co-workers who have doctor appointments. (This saves on hiring subs for half-days) The school now hosts early Friday prayer meetings for the staff to "get us through these rough times." Teachers are still talking about the budget cut and more layoffs.

Henry Heyman Hermann Remak

In my mailbox this afternoon was a 5x7 card from the Office of the Provost, Indiana University. That puzzled me. What did they want? And when I turned that red-and-white card over, I recognized the name right away. Professor Henry Heyman Hermann Remak, one of my favorite professors in the Germanic Department, had died at the age of 92 on 12 February. His memoriam will be 3 October and an RSVP is requested.

Prof Remak was already an older man when I had him in the early 1980s, a soft-spoken, balding gentleman with a quiet voice but strong mind. What I remember about him was his easy-going personality, his effervescent smile and his optimism. He was approachable, and often had his students at his home for gatherings. He is the only professor I visited at his private home. I must admit that I figured he had long passed on since I graduated in 1983, as I'm sure so many other of my professors have.

His eulogy read

Henry came to the United States in 1936, age 20, on a Sigman Alpha Mu Scholarship.
In San Francisco, he encountered Ingrid Grunfeld, the woman he was to marry;
she had also been brought up in Berlin. Their union was predestined. Ingridʼs house
had been on Stülerstrasse, opposite a statue of Theodor Fontane, one of Henryʼs favorite
authors. Henry fell in love not only with his future wife, but with his adopted country.
He marveled at its energy, its sense of wonder, its enterprise; he particularly admired its
enlightened rationalism: “The Declaration of Independence,” he would say, “is the most
humane document ever to come out of a Revolution.”

Henry would earn degrees from the Université de Montpellier, Indiana
University, the University of Chicago, and the Université de Lille. He taught at Indiana
University until and beyond his retirement, and he had visiting stints at the University of
Wisconsin, the University of Pennsylvania; he was a Director of the Middlebury German
Summer School for four years.

Another eulogy mentioned that Prof Remak loved to travel, loved to speak in several languages and love so many cultures. Perhaps he was my mentor even back then and I didn't know it.

I wish now I had gotten to know him better. I was never close to any of my professors; I found them all so inapproachable, but Prof Remak was one who could have broken that image I had of my mentors. He spoke and wrote fluent German, French and English, something I wish I could do. If I had had the courage I could have asked him for advice earlier in my life, and he would have gladly given it to me.

There were a few other professors I had in the French and German departments that impressed me, but most were business-like and stoic. (One French professor who specialized in Frech--Canadian literature, died a year after I had him, at the tender age of 53, from a viral infection.)

Not Prof Remak. He did so much for Indiana University, opened up peoples' minds to literature and culture. If it hadn't been for him I could say that otherwise the Germanic department at the time I was there was lackluster. Remak added the sunshine.

http://alumni.indiana.edu/conpubs/archives/CompLitspring09WEB.pdf

http://www.vox-poetica.org/sflgc/dyn/In-memoriam-Henry-H-H-Remak.html

Peace and quiet

The phone was silent today and it's going to be quiet from here on out. I loved it. I should have disconnected the landline a few years ago. I was able to read my assignments undisturbed, without annoying telemarketers calling for "Ms - - - -" with that long, drawn-out and befuddled sound. My printed last name is quite intimidating to Anglo-Saxons, and when people called asking me by my full name I knew they were callers I could gladly hang up on. They didn't know me, so why waste my time? A silent phone means I didn't have to jump up to answer the phone and I didn't have to conjure up some lie as to why I didn't want to listen to some marketing scheme.

Even the TV stays off for longer stretches of time during the day. I am calmer and more focused now. I am appreciating the sounds of silence.

But the silence is also disheartening. The school hasn't called me in two weeks. With my current class load I don't mind, quite honestly, as I can start each day concentrating on one subject. Mondays it's computer essentials, Wednesdays it's US History (taught by a Bisbeeite who's resembling George Carlin more and more), Thursdays it's English that is slowly warming up to me as well, but I am used to getting called in to work at least three days a week.

My one on-line class is also coming along, although my one concern is still getting my MoJo at starting my research papers. Even my computer class requires a research paper. That totals seven papers in three months.

I enjoy the mix of classes I am taking. But next semester I think I'm going to appreciate taking non-writing classes like Spanish or Biology for Non-Majors.

All my classmates are new this semester. None of them are familiar from my Education courses. I've come across Cecilia in the bookstore a few weeks ago. She's changed her major to Nursing. I ran into Rebecca last week in the computer lab. She, too, has switched to Nursing. Yesterday I met Kim at the library. We chatted a bit about our current class load, gave tips for good and not-so-good instructors here, and shared sentiments about the ever-growing drop-outs in the teaching field. She is taking her Elementary Ed course this semester and already seems overloaded, but Kim is simply a woman who takes all tasks seriously. She will do just fine.

One thing I know for sure: I can't waste time this semester reading recreational books, or spending long stretches on the internet perusing fun sites. Time is precious.

Hard to believe we are already in September. Soon fall will arrive and temperatures will get cooler. The rain we were supposed to get from Hurricane Jimena never came. In fact, Jimena died to a Cat2 and then to a Tropical Storm two days ago, veering west and then north, away from Baja California. That course was not predicted at all. I was looking forward to her coming north across the Sea of Cortez and hitting us today/tomorrow with rain. She never made it to the Gulf of California.

No more land line

I finally had had enough of spam phone calls from Wells Fargo Home Insurance, AIG, Tele Performance, Card Services, Global Reach and Home Security Group and other related businesses that I decided to cancel our land line. We were averaging at least three calls from Wells Fargo alone each day, five from the others. No one calls us on that line anyway, as everyone has our cell phones.

I called Qwest to do the cancellation. Jennifer, my customer service rep, was aghast. "Why are you cancelling your phone line?"

Stupefied, I replied "Because we aren't using it anymore?"

"Oh (giggles), OK!"

She then began to do the usual Qwest tactic, telling me of all the other "cool" savings I could enjoy if I got DirectTV and my cellphone service on one bundled bill. I will bundle with Qwest next year, but for now Sprint is holding us hostage for another 16 months and a few days.

Jennifer wanted me to know that DirectTV had other options ideal for me, and asked if she could get the paperwork ready to get the TV hooked up.

"It's only going to take a few more minutes!" "Minutes" to Qwest is relative.

"We don't have TV right now, you know, all the channels are bullshit; too much reality TV. The only channel we really enjoy is PBS."

"Oh," she replied quietly She must have thought we live behind the moon. We don't really. But we do live in rural southeastern Arizona and if I play with my TV's rabbit ears I can get a Mexican station from Agua Prieta.

I didn't want to tell Jen that Kevin also likes the History aka Nazi Channel, Comedy Channel and I love my C-Span and newsy stuff. If I did, she would have kept me on the line another 30 minutes. My time was precious. I didn't want to waste any more time listening to upsales.

There were many three to five-minute down times where I was put on hold and forced to listen to a loud robo-ad about all the new features of Qwest. I'd take the phone away from my ear and place the speakerphone on and work on my email while waiting.

Confirmation to a new contract put me in touch with a third party, always an ominous sign. I had to give out all my personal information a second time, getting quite annoyed. Then I was placed on hold again, again forced to listen to loud robo-ads by Qwest.

Then I heard the line switch over yet again, but this time I got connected to another robot who then said "If you are calling to have Qwest take over your long distance service, please state 'yes!'"

WAITAMINUTE! That's not what I wanted. I wanted internet service only, not additional overpriced Qwest long distance. That's why we have long-distance anytime minutes with Sprint.

I replied with a loud "NO!"

"We seem to have a problem here" said the robot. "I'll connect you with a sales representative..."

So then I got reconnected back to a robo-ad, placed my ear set away from my face, placed the line on speakerphone yet again, and waited and played with my Facebook page. Another person came back on, and asked what was the problem. It had now been close to 40 minutes that I had been held hostage by Qwest. Now I was getting impatient with Qwest's ineptitude. By god I thought, it's really true that Qwest has poor customer relations.

"I just spent 40 minutes trying to get my phone disconnected for internet only. I don't want your long-distance!!!"

"Oh, Jen just typed in the wrong code for you, I'll take care of you." More waiting. More robo-ads.

Then I got connected to yet another robo-talk, this time to press either a "1" or a "2" but by the time I realized I was no longer listening to an ad and got back on the line, I was disconnected.

"Good-bye!" said the robot.

So now I don't even know what slick services Qwest has me signed up for. This is going to be interesting.

Neighbors moving out

Kelly and her sisters moved all their stuff yesterday. This morning there are piles of plastic bags full of trash. She doesn't realize that the waste management truck only picks up the initial green dumpsters. Trash left next to the dumpster will remain there. Whatever space I have I can use for her trash tomorrow at pick-up.

The For-Rent sign is back up. Will Hen and Jen get renters in time or will they end up paying two mortgages again for a while? They are asking for $1150 a month; houses in town, closer to post, go for much cheaper. People who live out here really must like the country and the commute over the convenience of the town.

It was a quiet weekend. The hike on Saturday was nice, but hot and dry. All the creeks were dry.

Hurricane Jimena off the Baja coast is approaching Cabos and we may get some rains off of her later this week. I sure hope so as everything is drying up again. We haven't had the yield this year in the garden as usual. The bugs have gotten to the tomatoes and squash first.

However, we are planning a trip to Canyon de Chelly over the upcoming four-day weekend. I hope we don't get rained out!

Senator Edward Kennedy has died

He died late last night in his home at Hyannis Point. He was suffering from brain cancer that was first diagnosed in May 2008 after he was rushed to a hospital after a seizure.

I don't normally comment on deaths unless a famous death reminds me of childhood memories. In Kennedy's case, I grew up hearing about Kennedys: The JFK assassination, then the Robert Kennedy assassination five years later, the Ted Kennedy at Chappaquiddick and of course the life and times of Jacquelyn Kennedy after she married Onassis.

He was preceded in death by his 88-year-old sister Eunice who died 11 August.

There is now one remaining Kennedy child still alive from the original Joseph and Rose children, Jeanne Anne Kennedy, mother of William Kennedy Smith who was charged with rape in 1991 (and of course the charges were dropped). I don't think William would be a doctor today if those rape charges had held.

I was no fan of Ted Kennedy but I admired him for his steadfast determination and passion as a Senator to help his people in Massachusetts. I saw him on C-Span a few times and he always spoke eloquently about whatever cause he was pushing, but mostly it was health care. Had he not screwed his life over with that embarrassing Chappaquiddick incident, he very well could have become president. But maybe Ted Kennedy was too divisive of a character to get the conservative front to support his causes.

There aren't too many more people still around that were influential when I was a teenager. The last person I can think of is Fidel Castro. When he croaks on his last cigar it's going to be a long and lonely future for me.

Or maybe not. Maybe I'll be strolling the sandy beaches of western Cuba after Castro dies, celebrating the lifting of the nearly 50-year embargo and travel ban for US citizens.

Wait, there's Clint Eastwood as well. Go ahead, Reaper, make my day.

More rain

(I had a great week in Baltimore but I wrote about that on my other blog)

It rained hard last night for several hours, so I excitedly got up to pull more weeds, mostly puncture vine and Love Grass. That stuff grows like, uh, weeds.

More rain is forecasted for today and Sunday.

But speaking of rain, late yesterday afternoon, sitting at the computer composing a paper, the sister of our neighbor came over. She had her two kids with her and was acting restless. She needed to get to the store for some stuff. I didn't ask what she needed, and after cleaning out the passenger seat and putting the rear seats up for her two kids, I took her to the nearby country store.

What did she buy? Three bottles of white wine and a packet of Newports. Then, out of gratitude for my taking her to the store, she insisted on getting me wine or beer. I wasn't really in the mood for either since I just got over a cold and was taking antihistamines, but she insisted. So I picked out a six-pack of Corona.

By then the rain began to fall so I dropped her off at her house. She was grateful for me and invited me in. We chatted a while. Her husband died in April in a car crash. She's receiving a monthly SSN check and with that she can live on. Her sister (the renter) is unexpectedly pregnant and she flew here from MA to be the live-in babysitter when the baby's due. But that also means that she is moving into town to be closer to her job and the house will be vacant once more in September.

I liked this woman but I was uncomfortable seeing her so drunk. She spoke coherently, but it was her body language that was so out of synch. She'd move her head around like a blind man, closing her eyes to gather her thoughts.

She loves it here. And I'm happy to know she is close to her sister. And I told her that if she needed my help again, to just drop on by. Still, I felt uncomfortable seeing her so out of whack in front of her kids.

Finally, some rain!

Yesterday morning I volunteered at the county extension office, where I busily answered questions from local gardeners. Dying peach trees, mesquite borers and girdlers, organic pesticides were the big questions yesterday. I logged in four hours before leaving.

The sky was dark from the south. Rain? The forecasters were talking about rain on Wednesday so I was a little unprepared for yesterday's storm. I shopped at Lowe's and the rain came down hard on my way home. Perfect timing!

When I got home by 3pm the dogs were happy to see me. The back yard was flooded in parts. That's the first time I've seen that much rain this summer, and I'm not going to complain as the shrubs around the perimeter needed the water.

Pulling weeds will be easy this morning, but I also have to start packing for my flight to Baltimore tomorrow; I'm flying back East to attend Dave's wedding. I'm also going to visit with my sister and friends Jill in DE and Allison and Mike in New Jersey where we are going to hike in my beloved Pine Barrens like we always did Friday nights in Lebanon State Park. I'll miss my first day of class and when I return I'm going to hit the ground running.

Our nonsoon

I went on a hike with four other people from the hiking club yesterday, up in our Huachuca mountains. Despite the 8000'+ elevation we could feel the heat, and it kicked all our butts in the end, even the dogs' butts.

The lack of rain was very obvious in the lower elevations, where strands of gambel oak are dying off.

_____

The annual downpours haven't arrived, and experts blame El Niño.
By Bill Hess and Dana ColeHerald/Review

Published: Sunday, August 9, 2009 1:35 AM MST

Maybe you’ve heard the cliché: “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”In southern Arizona, the weather issue is more local.It’s about the monsoon — or the lack of it.

And, again, no one can doing anything about that.Well, not really.Mother Nature can, and she is doing so, by sending the boy — El Niño — to replace the girl — La Niña — in the Pacific Ocean.

The vast Pacific does much to dictate weather patterns around the world, a federal meteorologist said.When the boy is in the Pacific, there is a “warming trend of seawater” that affects the monsoon, Ken Drozd said.

Working for the National Weather Service in Tucson, Drozd said once El Niño starts in the far western waters of the Pacific along the equator, it brings a dry spell as the summer rains diminish in southern Arizona.

In June, earlier-than-expected rains occurred before La Niña was forced out of the Pacific Ocean region, he said.“Last month was a struggle when it came to the monsoon,” Drozd said of July, noting that El Niño grew in strength. Usually, the local monsoon begins around July 4. Instead, a different high-pressure system formed over Arizona, keeping the flow of rain from coming into the state from the southeast, its normal route in a good summer monsoon, he said.

The sea current changed, affecting the atmospheric current.And while people think of weather systems as separate regions, the entire globe is connected, and the main area driving weather is the Pacific Ocean, Drozd said.What happens in the Pacific creates either a strong or weak hurricane season in the Atlantic, and because of the girl-to-boy phenomenon, there has been a reduction in the number of hurricanes expected to hit the eastern United States this year, Drozd said.

While the Southwest is in a drought, one that is expected to continue through the summer because of scarce rainfall by a weak monsoon, “there is a coming upside,” Drozd said.

Later in the fall and through the winter, “there is a better chance for more rain than in the past years,” he said.The El Niño system creates the ability to bring in precipitation from the north, the federal meteorologist said.

During the last three years when the girl was in charge of the Pacific, the summer rains were better. But on the other hand, the winter rains were lighter, he said. Now, the reverse will be true, Drozd added.

Since June 15, the Sierra Vista area has received 3.25 inches of rain, which is almost three quarters of an inch less than normal, he said. Other areas in Cochise County have received their normal or higher amounts since June 15. However, it appears the cumulative amounts for southern Arizona when the monsoon traditionally ends in September will put everyone at a lower-than-normal total, Drozd said.

Noting that rain is important for ranchers and others involved agricultural economies, he said the immediate outlook is not good, but it will become better during the winter rainy season.“Dry weather is expected to continue for a while, and then it will become wetter later this year,” Drozd said. Of course, that all depends on whether Mother Nature can keep her unruly children — El Niño and La Niña — in check. But, then who knows whether even she can truly do anything about the weather.

http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/08/09/news/doc4a7e7f88ee713783380716.txt

.

Going back to school

I have decided to go ahead and register myself as a History/English major at the local college. With intensive class loads for the next four semesters, to include most likely summer courses, I could get the requirements out of the way and add these topics to my teaching credentials after taking the appropriate state exams. Both topics were topics I enjoyed when I was an undergrad but didn't take because they weren't required for my German-French double majors.

Declaring a major also allows me to register on-line and in advance AND it gives me priority for courses. Right now as an undeclared student I don't have that privilege.

All the courses I've taken in the last year other than that Anthro class I enjoyed so much were requirements for my Arizona Secondary Education Teaching Certificate. I completed that requirement. Now I can take all the other courses that were appealing to me in the course catalog but which I didn't have time to take. The college here has a good history department that offers history classes not just on the United States, but also Mexico. I have always wanted to learn more about our neighbors to the South.

The good thing about Arizona's higher education system is that its community colleges are very affordable ($52 a credit hour) and up to 64 credits are transferable toward a degree toward any of the state's three public universities: University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona State University in Phoenix, and Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Compare that, for example, to UA's tuition rate of $259 a unit plus all the added fees (including the $55 "economic recovery surcharge" to compensate for the current recession) makes a full unit fee $427.50. Most UA courses are three units. Students would be foolish not to take their first two years at their local community college before entering the larger universities for the upper-level courses.

This means, though, that I will have to take dreaded math classes. Math was my biggest weakness in high school, barely earning passing grades. I may have to take a class of two of remedial algebra, classes that won't count toward my degree, for a year. This is going to be my biggest hurdle and could potentially lower my overall GPA by a grade or two. Eeech.

This also means no extended summer road trips for a while. That's a sacrifice. But I could get a lot of required courses out of the way in two short but intensive terms.

I may even try some of the on-line, non-intensive-writing courses as well. This way I could take the weekly assignments at a time that is convenient for me rather than having all evening classes four days a week like I have right now.

All the other requirements, though, are courses that I would have wanted to take down the line in the next few years, like Digital Photography for the ARTS requirement, Southwest Heritage for the Humanities requirement, even Biology for Non-Majors for the Lab/Science requirement. Too bad the college doesn't offer Botany though. That would work great with my Master Gardener certificate.

Tomorrow I'm going to talk to an advisor to see if some of my old undergrad courses could apply toward my plan. Maybe I can get a placement exam for my Spanish requirement as surely Spanish 101 would be too easy for me, a waste of time and money, and not challenging enough. Spanish is the only language that is offered at the college, and it's a graduation requirement, which means everyone will have to take the elementary courses.

Kevin is cool with my plan. Thank God. My first husband was so adamantly opposed to me taking any more college courses once we were married. "You are a mother now, you don't need to be going back to college!" he once said. And I was dumb enough to believe him then.

I was able to sign up for an additional Computer Essentials course and the required English 102 courses last week, both which are required for graduation. That leaves me with four courses for this semester, or 12 credits, of which nine are intensive writing courses. I also want to take a few more computer/network/world wide web courses just to expand my computer literacy.

By the time I am done with my plan I am going to have more than the 64 credits for two Associate Degrees, but all the courses are going to help me down the line for those more challenging graduate courses I still want to take. They, however, may be another two years down the line.

I am going to be so busy here in another week. But I am ready for the challenge.

Vet visit, Beer Summit and illegal border crossers

Right now at 6:25am it's 72F with 62% humidity yet no rain is in sight until Sunday, when the elusive monsoon will return for another week. Meanwhile I'm watering parts of the vegetable garden every day. Even the Bermuda grass and weeds are dying in this oppressive heat.

Even I don't like this hot-dry weather, not in July when we should be dancing in the rain and cool monsoonal breeze. Tomatoes and green peppers thrive in warm humidity, not in hot aridity.
I had thought about taking the dogs up Sage peak today, a two-hour drive into the Chiricahuas, but opted not to when Kevin suggested going out tonight in town. Instead, I will do more gardening in the morning before it gets too hot.

Yesterday I did the same thing, except I stopped gardening by noon and then got Reina ready for her vet visit in Bisbee. That took two hours as she panted in stress over her blood tests. The medication to control her thyroid is working, but her blood count is still high. She will be on thyroid medication for the rest of her life, at $1 a day. She's worth it.

"That girl has spunk!" said the vet when she took Reina's blood. I could hear Reina scream in pain in the labratory behind the curtain. As small as she is she takes on the 75-pound dogs with a vengeance; the dogs respectfully give her a wide berth. Ah yes, the power of claws and wet hisses!

I will always enjoy the drive into Bisbee, skirting the international border and wondering "what's on the other side" but it was a hot drive across parched desert landscape. The Sonoran mountains lingered in a sandy haze this time.

The USBP has been active in this area, and I am getting used to the increased surveillance here. I no longer squirm at the sight of a convoy of USBP vans and trucks racing past me, or hidden USBP SUVs in the mesquite trees tracking human movement travel from the border north.

This heat, though has killed a few illegals in the week I have been home. It's sad to see the end of life end so traumatically for many of these people, dumped along the side of little-used roads for the USBP to pick them up. A refrigerated truck filled with 97 illegals from Guatemala and Mexico was picked up yesterday outside of Nogales. Those people, albeit freezing in 34F, were lucky they were found alive. The few times I've driven into town I've come across USBP vans in the middle of apprehending groups of illegals in dark clothing, huddling at the side of the road and obediently asking questions of the agents.

Yesteday, though, Kevin and I did not talk about the illegals coming in increased droves through our region. Yesterday, over beer and appetizers in town, we chatted over trivial stuff, like the over-hyped "beer summit" Obama had yesterday with a black Harvard professor and the white Cambridge cop who falsely arrested him for breaking into his own front door after returning from a trip to China and finding his door jammed.

A neighbor who was walking by at the moment called in a suspect burglar, not knowing what was going on. (Better safe than sorry!). What ensued between the prof and the cop appears to be a cop who followed district procedure and a resident who lost his cool when he was arrested for trying to enter his own home. I can't blame the prof for losing his cool; who would want to be arrested for trying to get into their own home?! The cop should have apologized to the prof, ignored the "disorderly conduct" of the prof as he was placed into hand cuffs. (Don't cops get sensitivity training these days?) The media grabbed this story ad nauseum to the point of Obama refering to the Cambridge police department as "Acting stupidly" which of course then was broadcasted 24/7. And naturally the right-wing media is making this headlines news. According to the alcoholic-ranting political pundit Glenn Beck, Obama is now a racist.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32197648/ns/politics-more_politics/

Both the professor and the Cambridge cop are decent people who were thrusted into this media limelight. Both men had reasons for their actions, actions that should have ended in an apology from both men at the time of the incident. The cop should have apologized for arresting the prof, the prof should have apologized for losing his cool. End of discussion. Instead, this has turned into a racially-charged Ueberincident.

Having had enough media attention on all three over an issue that really should not have been an issue, the president invited both prof and cop to the White House to discuss this topic over beer: Sam Adams Light for the prof, Blue Moon for the cop (good choice!) and Bud Light for Obama.

Bud Light for Obama?! I would have expected the President of the United States to have better taste than that, like perhaps Chicago's own Goose Island Ale.

"Guess what kind of beer Obama drinks?" I asked Kevin as I took a sip of my Blue Moon Belgian White.
"Bud Light!" How did Kevin know this? Had he spent time at work reading this news on-line? "Good choice!" he added.
"Obama lost points from me when I learned he drinks Bud Light." But seriously, a cop who drinks Blue Moon can't be a racist, as some rednecks want to blame him for being.
I held Kevin's pint glass againt the light. "Do you know what this looks like? Diluted urine!"
"And you know what your beer looks like?" Kevin retorted. "Your beer looks like urine that has been sitting in the toilet for a few days." OK, granted, it does, but damn, does it taste good!

Whatever. I really wish the White House and the beer-swiveling right wing commentators would focus more on the increased violence in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. The situations there can only get worse before this year is over. Or, better yet, come up with a workable solution for these illegal immigrants and the immigration policy that does not include amnesty.

___


http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/31/news/doc4a72951dcff1e337960863.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/31/news/doc4a728f5ebcb9b888368347.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/30/news/doc4a6ff98355ebc970267361.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/29/news/doc4a6fe6c0a60d1587330050.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/25/news/doc4a6ab0bfaab56691216954.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/24/news/doc4a69610965046035442791.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/26/news/state/doc4a6c0ca0e5b75841598073.txt
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/22/news/doc4a66aec47c5d1991812808.txt

Miss Sierra Vista 2009

The new winner is my classmate Kim Swift! I saw that this morning at 2am when I couldn't sleep and got up to read the news. I knew she was competing this year as she was featured last week in the paper as a contestant. Everything I've seen her do in class has been A+ work and she deserved the $3000 educational scholarship. I know she worked hard to win this award and will continue to work hard this coming year for the Miss Arizona contest.

I cried a few tears of joy for her, as I know she's had to work hard all her young life for her accomplishments.

Although I find beauty pageants degrading, with women having to parade on stage in high heels and skimpy bathing suits and gowns when such physical exposure and judgement is not expected of men, I know Kim won based on her overall talents, intelligence and charm.

I'm glad to know her as a classmate. She's going to be one cool teacher some day and any school district hiring her will be proud of her. Her big thing is literacy for children.

As for me, I could only get two classes for this coming semester: History of the US 1607-1877 and History of Women in the US although that second class to now only has one signed up, me, and five are needed to hold a class. English 102, Network Systems, Developmental Psychology, Spanish 102 and American Literature would be my other choices. I really don't want three heavy-writing courses, though.

http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/07/26/news/doc4a6b6174454b5649599591.txt

Public Enemies

Yesterday Kevin and I saw our first theatre movie since my return from Iraq in late 2007. There hadn't been a movie that sparked our interest to pay $9 each to see; we had been renting them so far. I've gotten tired of the usual chick flicks and brainless action dick flicks that Hollywood loves to produce en masse.

But a movie starring John Depp was hard to resist. He's my favorite character actor. And besides, he spent three days with his crew filming in Crown Point, IN last year where, according to my stepmom, he "endeared himself to the locals." John Dillinger had escaped from the old Lake County Jail there in 1933 using a wooden gun. The building still stands a block from the historic Courthouse Square as a musuem.

The movie wasn't an Oscar winner as there were too many inaudible portions of the movie, and many night shots that were hard to follow. But Depp, as usual, played Dillinger well.

I recognized the outside shots of the old jail, as US troops stood outside wearing WWI-style helmets. Sandbags were placed around the jail to protect them from small-arms fire. This scene showed up an hour into the 143-minute movie.

After the movie we had our usual post-review commentary. It revolved around Dillinger's penis. Throughout this movie I never pondered Dillinger's penis. I was more impressed with his charm and charisma on people, even the baffled FBI. (Traits that still work to fool FBI agents)

"His penis is on display at the Smithsonian!" said Kevin.
"His penis?!"
"He had a huge dick!" he said.
"I don't remember seeing his penis there" I replied, knowing that this sort of stuff, if real, would be at the Museum of American History, my favorite museum in DC.

Turns out the Dillinger Dick is, as suspected, an urban legend.
http://www.snopes.com/risque/penile/dillinger.asp

The roadtrip of a life

I have now been back for two days and am still living the road. What a great trip it turned out to be! I did it at a great time when gasoline prices were low. I left in mid-May when gas here cost $1.99 and the highest price I paid in the two months was $2.99 in the Chicagoland area and averaged around $2.60 across the states. Gasoline here is only $2.41 in town now. If I had done this trip last year I would have easily spent $2K more just for gasoline.

The best part of this trip, besides seeing Montana, was living the history. To drive along the Missouri River in Iowa and South Dakota, to see the Three Forks of the Missouri in Montana and to stop at marked sites where Lewis and Clark camped out, gave me a better view and feel of what the Corps of Discovery endured back in 1804-1806. Taking with Lakota people, walking Native American trails and seeing Ancient American dwellings and petroglyphs was another goal of mine. I did that, too. And to experience the "Wild" of the northern Rockies was of course the highlight of this entire trip. America truly is a beautiful country.

Roadtripping, I've discovered, is fun and easy in the Western States because of the many public lands. I spent less than $200 on lodging in the two months, prefering free "primitive" campsites in the National Forests. The National Forests have great campsites for those who already have water with them and who don't need hook-ups. The National Parks Service's campgrounds, in comparison, are crowded, loud, overpriced and often disappointing. Sadie loved the cascading waters from creeks we'd camp near. Having water available is quite an asset in the West.

I want to do this trip again, with Kevin, and experience Montana, Idaho, Wyoming again. He would love to see the Big Horn National Forest, the Gallatin National Forest, and the Bitterroots along the MT-ID border. Like me, he's no fan of the crowded resort parks managed by the National Park Service, where overweight Americans, rude foreign tourists (who I've seen purposely ignore "Do Not Cross" signs the park would post in areas of landslides or restoration projects) and overpriced goods are sold to masses of people in every corner.

It feels good just to stay home and work on the garden now. I certainly have my work cut out for me before school starts! The monsoonal rains were late this year, but we got a good rainfall yesterday which will make weed-pulling easier this morning. Kevin took great efforts in the garden while I was gone and we are getting a pumper crop of large green peppers, potatoes and turnips and beets. Last night he made a savory stew with our home-grown turnips.

Even my strawberries and blueberries are ripe. Those Quinalt strawberries are ideal for Arizona as they are huge and do well in the morning sun/afternoon shade.

Sadie and I bonded over the trip and she never leaves my sight, but she does fear Sara who pushes her out of the way. Yesterday Sadie hid in Kevin's closet until I called her out for a "Ride
into town to register for classes; the other two dogs insisted on going along so I ended up taking all three dogs into town for an hour. The van's still not completely cleaned out so it was a mess in the end...but they had fun.

And then an early-evening walk proved disastrous. My three-mile walk was aborted at the second mile because the dogs were pulling too hard. I was being led "for a drag" rather than
going on a walk. I had no fun. The dogs' body weight is too much for me. Nonetheless it was nice to see the neighborhood, wave at the familiar faces and see new ones. Some of the homes that were on sale in May have sold, others are now on the market.

Would I do this road trip again? Ideally, I would NOT have driven to Indiana and then up to South Dakota, but I needed to see Baby Ethan and the kids. I spent most of my reserve money there in Indiana taking care of the kids' needs; had I stayed out West I would have saved $2K but then not have seen the new baby, or seen all my friends there who truly made the trip enjoyable. I want to do big road trips every summer but stay in one region (like the Pacific Northwest) and stay in one town for several days before moving on...avoiding driving long distances on hot days; 120 miles is the most I prefer driving in one day.

The van did fine, too. But I think next time I will want to get a roof-top luggage carrier to prevent the clutter in the van that gets worse with dogs in the back sifting things around. I will shop around for a good one.

The shower bags I brought along worked GREAT for those private camp showers. I was able to stay clean and refreshed throughout the heat of summer, after dirty hikes, etc. And I brought enough clothes to last two weeks between washings. Maybe I brought along TOO much clothes as the bags were taking up space.

I ate a lot of Swiss cheese/flour tortillas along the way, mostly eating just one big meal a day. Toward the end, though I craved high protein foods like burgers and fries, the higher and longer I'd hike up the peaks. If I never see cheese and tortillas for the rest of the year, I'd be happy!

I did enjoy the many great breweries in Montana and the people I'd meet in the "taprooms." Drinking beer there, where hops, barley and wheat are grown locally, is an experience. The beers there are made with all-natural ingredients and make the cheap national brands like Budweiser, Coors, Miller or Michelob taste like rice or corn extract. I probably spent more money on beer than on food!

I never had to use my pistol or stun gun, although the lose dogs that would chase after Sadie gave me fleeting regrets that I didn't carry my stun gun with me, just to pull the trigger to scare off the hounds. Dogs do not like the sound of that zapper, and it's the sound alone that would scare them off. (Would that work on a hungry mountain lion or black bear as well?)

But life has its surprises. Deaths do happen and plans could change. I worry about Kevin's health every day because of his high blood pressure compounded with his smoking and drinking. If only I could get him working out again, or helping me walk the dogs in the evening!

I enjoy teaching for the summers off. I am still taking courses at the college here to prep for my Master's in Ed; this fall I am taking two history courses although I had hoped to take an English and Spanish course as well. (Scheduling conflicts prevented that). The high school I work at is a great school with wonderful staff and administrators. Teaching part-time and going to school in the evenings is a great schedule for me and I am happy with this arrangement.

And for the sake of my sanity I will not be returning to Bisbee. I will miss the after-school visits of Old Bisbee and hanging out with the weird people there, but the students in Bisbee are lacking the discipline and desire to be educated like they do in town; there is clearly a cultural divide between the two towns.

My teaching certificate now complete, all the courses now are just prep courses. I want to know more about American history and Literature (and that includes Native American history). The one major change down the road, however, would be the possibility of moving to Tucson to work as a German or Russian teacher at the upscale schools there. But does Kevin want to move there? He's happy here working with his co-workers; this winter he's earned another week of vacation which means next summer we could take a three-week roadtrip together if all works out! He would drive up to Montana himself if he could. And he'd be happy staying in camp drinking beer and cooking dinner while I explore the high peaks with one of the dogs. What a life!