This last Friday, I met a friend for lunch and when heading home, I tuned into NPR's show “Talk of the Nation – Science Friday.” When I heard that they were broadcasting from Flagstaff, Arizona I actually yelled out in joy.
Why do I love Flagstaff so much? I spent seven of the best years of my life there for an education. I am not saying that they were the happiest years of my life, getting an education can be emotionally difficult, but in the end rewarding. Northern Arizona University (Go Lumberjacks!) gave my family its monies worth. It is a teaching University which emphasizes learning, while also having great research facilities. Now, please don't think it took me seven years just to get my degree. Sometimes it may seem that I am that lazy, but in reality I loved Flagstaff and NAU so much that I stayed for a masters degree.
The smell of the Ponderosa pines still makes me smile and I had to include Flagstaff in my book. It seems to me that a lot of people don't think much of Flagstaff or NAU. They are much more into the large Arizona Universities of ASU and UA. While those universities have done much for my family (my parents and brother went to ASU and my hubby works at UA), I love NAU and Flagstaff because it is different. How is it different? Well, Flagstaff is a smaller university town instead of Phoenix and Tucson which are large cities. Flagstaff is at 7,000 feet elevation, so they get snow in the winter. Luckily, it is only usually a 'once a month' type of snowy weather. A once a week/everyday type rain and snow would be not enough sun for this Phoenix-born girl.
At 7,000 feet, you get to see the milky way on every clear night if you drive 10 minutes out of town. You cannot say that in Tucson, but the Astronomers, and there are quite a few of them down here at UA, build telescopes on the various mountains down here in southern Arizona. Those mountains are quite a lot like Flagstaff, but with even less light pollution.
I have many memories of great food and fun in Flagstaff. The fish tacos at Salsa Brava make me come back for more every time I am in town. There are also fun memories of meeting friends on a Friday night at Beaver Street Brewery, Mogollon Brewery, or Uptown Billiards to decompress from the week. The Black Bean is a hometown competitor to Chipotle, but with more variety. It was good enough to get a shout out in The Chronicles of IDIOT. Hiking near Flagstaff is one of my favorite all time activities, along with snow fights and building a snowman with my kids last winter.
“Now, Erin”, someone might say, “isn't it politically incorrect to have a lumberjack as a mascot?” Well, to that I say “I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK.” (THANK YOU Monty Python!) Lumberjacks bring us paper and I am an author, so I think I have to be OK with Lumberjacks. I am OK with recycling paper as well, by the way.
There is an irony here, as I am allergic to pine pollen. With medication it is manageable but there are times when I visit forested areas and am miserable. This would not stop me and my family if we had an opportunity to move to Flagstaff.
Every place has it's problems, in the Sonoran desert it is the 120 degree temperature highs during the summer. In places like Florida, it is the sweltering humidity and possibility of hurricanes. The central plain states are called Tornado Alley. On coastal California, it is the potential of devastating earthquakes. Actually, there is a potential of earthquakes and other geologic activity in Flagstaff, as the San Francisco Peaks, the beautiful mountain range outside of Flagstaff is a dormant volcano. But, the only earthquake that occurred when I lived there was registered 3 on the Richter scale and I slept right through it. Anything could happen, geologically speaking, but in our lifetime, I would place my bets on activity occurring in California than northern Arizona.
Lastly, I would like to say that while in many places (and during political debates) science is being degraded and criticized throughout our country, it is nice to see a town celebrate the wonders of science. Yes, Flagstaff is my kinda town.
No comments:
Post a Comment