Signing off...Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

 

Bookemdano signing off for 2021...

NFL continues to roll with 14 games in the books for all teams

 National Football League

It's crunch time in the NFL...

With all the turmoil revolving around one virus after another, the National Football League keeps plugging away.

As of this morning, all 32 teams have completed 14 games and it's shaping up to be a wild finish as the final weekend of 2021 approaches.

The top teams and their records:

Green Bay   11-3

Kansas City 10-4

Dallas          10-4

Tampa Bay  10-4

LA Rams     10-4

Arizona       10-4

New England 10-4

Tennessee   10-4

Dallas is on top in the NFC East; Green Bay heads up the NFC North; Tampa Bay leads the NFC South, while the LA Rams and the Arizona Cardinals sit atop the NFC West.

In the AFC East, New England leads the way; Tennessee sits atop the AFC South; Kansas City is in the driver's seat in the AFC West, while Cincinnati and Baltimore find themselves locked in a duel for the top spot at 8-6 in the AFC North.

I found a rental I can afford

 "I found a rental I can afford" -- Dan Price

The Prices are sky high along the Western Slope.

No pun intended.

The first day of winter/2021

 The first day of winter/2021

Welcome to winter along the Western Slope. My friends are back this morning. I never get tired of

watching these creatures roam -- up close and personal.

A clear sky and a current temperature of 24 degrees, heading for a high of 40 today.

That's my morning weather report -- just four days away from Christmas. It may stay warm -- warm as in too warm for a big snow fall. The mountains will get plenty. The skiers will be happy.  The slopes will be full of young people, scurrying to the top to await their downhill experience.

At 76, I must stay clear of such danger. Too bad. I've ordered some new feet through Amazon. But the waiting list is long. Now struggling with my share of pain with arthritis-related injuries of  one form or another, I'll never experience such excitement -- unless a family member straps me to a board and lets me fly.

My aging heart would be stunned. "Hey, Dude! What are you doing?" There's always a time to dance, but rolling downhill with my snowboard stuck in the snow, back at the starting gate, seems a little much for this old timer. To all my friends and readers out there: Enjoy the first day of winter.

Cardinals on a downhill spiral

 Arizona Cardinals (10-4)

Once the cream of the crop in the NFL, in 2021, my Arizona Cardinals find themselves in a downward spiral. With a 7-0 record to start the season, Arizona has now gone 3-4 the past seven weeks and are suddenly moving toward the middle of the pack at 10-4, after a loss  today to the Lions  (2-11-1) at Ford Field in Detroit.

Yes, the Cardinals are dealing with key injuries -- the latest: the loss of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who tore his MCL last week. Still, the Cardinals have lost their mojo.

My Wildcats are still cruising

 Arizona Wildcats (11-0)

My Arizona Wildcats continue to remain unbeaten at 11-0.

Ranked No. 8 in the country by the Associated Press College Basketball poll, Arizona faces 18th-ranked Tennessee Wednesday; 4th-ranked UCLA on Dec. 30 and 10th-ranked USC, sporting a 12-0 record, on Jan. 2.

If the Wildcats win all three it would be a feather in their cap, using an old cliche, but it wouldn't be devastating if they lost one. All three games are away. Bummer! Tough games on the road and you can add the game in Tempe on Jan. 8 against the Arizona State Sun Devils to make it four straight games away from the friendly confines of McKale Center.

If the Wildcats continue to get four players in double figures (currently Bennedict Mathurin, 17.4 ppg., Azuolas Tubelis, 16.1 ppg., Christian Koloko, 13.6 ppg., Kerr Kriisa, 11.8 ppg.) and play well defensively, well it is possible the unbeaten streak could continue, making it a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for Arizona fans.

Photo: Mathurin, who leads the Wildcats in scoring, after 11 games, with a 17.4 average.

Bob Seger says:Turn the Page

We all continue to turn the pages

The great Bob Seger released his classic tune, Turn the Page, in 1973.

At that time, I had already turned the pages twenty-eight years. The pages back then seemed to stick, frozen in time -- creating moments in time that lasted forever.

Now, at the age of 76, the pages move faster. It feels like a hair blower is attached to the electrical socket in the wall, and the switch on the apparatus is turned to high -- the end of the blower directed toward the final chapters of my life, the pages now blowing by at a much faster pace.

Back in 1963, a walk in the park or a cruise down Main Street in my hometown seemed to last forever. Maybe it was a moment in high school when I stared at the clock awaiting the final bell to ring -- releasing me from my assigned desk, freeing me to the outside world and the endless possibilities and the exciting "hours" ahead.

No worries. No mortgages. Instead, nothing but special moments ahead. I'd crawl into my jalopy, turn on the radio -- instantly, a Duane Eddy instrumental roared through the speakers, maybe accompanied by some annoying static, no Sirius XM  back then -- just a single channel selection to punch for the tunes of the day.

My friends are waiting, just a mile ahead -- all of them mingling at the A&W Drive-in. No plan in place for the rest of the evening for any of us. The minutes on the time clock would click slowly -- plenty of time...plenty of time to do whatever.

We all would be in bed by 10 o'clock on a school night, 11 on a weekend...midnight if we were getting straight A's. No cell phones, no video games. A peek at the Ed Sullivan Show to see a kid with the swivel hips performing Love Me Tender.

Stopped at the local tavern the other night. It was Karaoke Night -- all singers and non-singers were out in full force. Suddenly, a long-time friend walked to the stage, picked up the microphone, and proceeded to bellow out Seger's Turn the Page.

For six minutes, I listened to my friend sing. 

I realize the song is about the plight of a musician as he or she makes their journey down the road:

Out there in the spotlight, you're a million miles away

Every ounce of energy you try to give away

As the sweat pours out of your body

Like the music that you play

Later in the evening, as you lie awake in bed

With the echoes from the amplifiers ringing in your head

You smoke the day's last cigarette.

Remembering what she said

But as I continue to listen to my friend, the meaning of the lyrics, from my point of view, settles in. My friend at center stage, all the people in the room, all the characters I have met in my life, are all turning the pages in their lives. 

We are all in different chapters of our lives.

For those lucky enough to continue to turn the pages, remember we are all reading the same book: The Book of Life.

Here I am on the road again

There I am, up on the stage

Here I go, playin' the star again

There I go

Turn the page -- Bob Seger

By the way, my friend did well.

The answers are not hidden in the wind

 On the Way Out series

Vol. 6

Part 9

Many of us old-timers find ourselves alone.

Some have created our own loneliness. Through no fault of our own, some of us find ourselves alone in this big world of ours. How we ended up there is no longer important, but how we deal with the aftermath is -- a mighty challenge for sure, the kind of a challenge that will eat away at our very soul.

There is no age limit on loneliness. We can be young or old and suddenly find ourselves listening to the crickets sing in the middle of a late-summer afternoon or listening to the wind blow late at night. At the same time, an uncut branch of a giant oak tree keeps pace with the wind, swirling and scratching against the window pane.

The noises can overshadow the distant sounds of the traffic in the city or the constant barking of the neighborhood dog just doors away.

We listen for the sounds.

Maybe we have finished the latest chapter of a book, and suddenly, our hands let go, and the book slides down, the pages finally nestling against our chest.

We question the wind. 

Bob Dylan said in a song he wrote in ten minutes back in the early 1960s. He said the answers were blowing in the wind. Yes, it was a political song, and maybe he meant if we ignore such things long enough, the answers to those tough questions will scatter in all directions and disappear forever.

The answers are not hidden in the wind. The crickets are not speaking to us. In fact, the male crickets are lonesome and are actually rubbing their wings to attract the female crickets.

The answer for a lonely cricket is to make plenty of noise. Humans do not have wings, and we handle our emotions differently.

If a good book doesn't get you out of your doldrums, hop to it, get out there, and meet some people.

In this day and age, you are not alone. Millions and millions of people are isolated, and in the past three years, the coronavirus hasn't helped matters.

Please don't wait for the wind to blow, and, as for the crickets, they are too busy to notice you.

My 11th-ranked Wildcats improve to 7-0

 Arizona Wildcats Basketball

My 11th-ranked Arizona Wildcats improved to 7-0 and 1-0 in the Pac-12 with a 90-65 win over the Oregon State Beavers today in Corvallis.

Bennedict Mathurin scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Wildcats.

Cardinals reach 10 wins

 Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals improved to 10-2 with a 33-22 win over the Bears in Chicago today and continue to own the best record in the National Football League.

Quarterback Kyler Murray threw for two scores and rushed for two touchdowns.

Way to go, Cardinals! 

Where are they now? Joanna Pettet

 On the Way Out series

Vol. 6

Part 8

In 1967, I lived in Moab, Utah and a Western was filmed there,which turned into a box office flop, but still the movie had it share of stars. Our local town softball team had the honor of playing members of the cast at the city park on Sundays, during the summer. In the front row, fifth from the right, kneeling next to Ricardo Montalban is Joanna Pettet, an English actress, who starred on both the wide screen and television.

On August 8, 1969, Pettet had lunch at the home of actress Sharon Tate, just hours before the arrival of members of the Mansion Family.

Pettet, now 79, retired from acting thirty years ago and currently lives in Southern California.

By the way, that is me in the back row, third from the right. I was 21. Pettet was 24.

Small town America

On the Way Out series

Vol. 6

Part 7

Living in small town America requires some traveling.

It's a different way of life compared to the big city of Denver, two-hundred miles to the east. Less hustle and bustle. The residents of Parachute and Battlement Mesa, Colorado -- Parachute on one side of the Colorado River, the Battlement area residents on the other, enjoy a laid-back lifestyle and plenty of outdoor activities, including hunting, fishing, hiking...and skiing just a few miles south on the slopes of Powderhorn.

The area, with a combined population of 6,000 -- an estimate, which may or may not include yours truly, was once the seasonal campground of the Ute Indians.

Settlers moved in soon after and the area turned into a farming and ranching community in the early part of the 20th century, but, in the 1950s, along came mineral extraction -- mostly oil-shale resources --  and the area and the life of its inhabitants changed drastically.

Along came Exxon Oil and other oil companies followed. Suddenly a Boom Town mentality engulfed the area. People, searching for high-paying jobs and a better way of life, filtered into the area. The word was out of a "new oasis" situated along the Western Slope of Colorado.

By the 1980s, the entire area was a "hot spot."

Suddenly, it was all over. Exxon abandoned operations in 1982. They pulled the plug, along with the other oil companies, and left thousands of people stranded without work. It was called Black Sunday.

Fortunately plenty of good, hard-working, strong-willed people remained. And now, here we are in the 21st Century, heading into 2022 and the residents are just fine. They have found their way and their way is a good way. Jobs are out there. The jobs may be an hour and a half away -- like in Aspen, or forty minutes away in Grand Junction or a thirty-minute drive to Glenwood Springs.

Some will work two jobs. Families will be raised. Children will grow up in an area where the Ute children once roamed -- hunting, fishing, rock climbing, hiking...skiing -- a comfortable way of life.

And the characters I have encountered are so diverse -- all finding their way. Small town life with big and beautiful surroundings. Deer in backyards, wild turkeys roaming the streets...snow on the mountains and a river runs through it.

I met a nice hard-working fella yesterday name Jose. His day, during the peak season, includes driving to Aspen and his fast-paced days as a cook at an upscale restaurant. Back home, Jose has opened a new restaurant in Battlement Mesa. A risky undertaking, but he hopes the word will be out soon and he'll be able to turn his small business into a moneymaker. Jose is married and has three boys -- the oldest 11 years of age. He hails from the Los Angeles area and was born in Mexico where his grandparents grew vegetables.

He learned his trade well. His breakfast burritos are to die for.

Another example of the people along the Western Slope.

Is it possible small town life will be the wave of the future?

Will more people filter from the big cities to country living?

The residents of small town America  hope not.