Reading and Rambling

    Books read:          Mandela’s Way:  Fifteen Lessons on Life, Love, and Courage  by Richard Stengel          Swing Time by Zadie Smith   Trails walked:          Barnhardt trail near Payson (November Nov 4 th )   Song of the month:   Landslide by Fleetwood Mac -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4M53xndqiU Scientist Spotlight:   Emmanuelle Charpentier and  Jennifer A. Doudna  Well a lot has happened this past month, very little of which included reading and rambling unfortunately.  This "year from Hades" continued its carnage with the sudden and shocking death of my Hiking Buddy (see my memorial to him HERE ).  It continued on with the post-election circus created by the current occupant of the White House.  As I predicted in the October blog the country would remain divided with half believing their long national nightma...

 Hi all, This is my first special post.  I am deeply saddened by the sudden and shocking passing on November 5th of my Hiking Buddy (HB as I've called him in this blog for the past 2 years).  He and I were work friends for 30 years.  We ate lunch together every week (Whataburger was our go to).  We both retired at the same time in December of 2015 and started hiking all over Arizona together nearly every week.  HB was a young 64 year old who looked forward to many more Arizona adventures and spending time with his lovely wife.  Our lives strangely paralleled as he lost his beloved mom around the same time I lost my beloved dad.  Then he lost his dad around the same time my father-in-law passed this year.  We would share funny (and sad) stories of caring for parents in assisted living facilities.   We loved hiking in the Superstition Wilderness, but HBs favorite spot was the Inner Basin near Flagstaff.  He has a special spot wes...

    Books read:          Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain          The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon          The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers          The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion   Trails walked:                 Two-Bit Peak in Phoenix (October 26th)          Gateway Loop in Scottsdale (October 27th)          Circumference Trail, aka Freedom Trail in Phoenix (October 28th) ·    Song of the month:            Step Inside this House by Lyle Lovett (written by Guy Clark)        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpZnqvTZLx0   Scientist Spotlight:            George Washington Carver Well, our move to Colorado is...