How I Spent My Winter Vacation

Beauty

Jan 8

Are you as glad as I am to have December behind you?Life got a little crazy in the Glahn household. At the tail end of my shingles episode, I had two weeks of jury duty on top of the usual paper-grading and Christmas shopping. And Gary's mom fell, so his brother flew down and the two guys had to move her out of her assisted living unit and into a nursing home. She has pneumonia and the flu and fell again this week, so she's having a rough go.I got another jury summons this week. Seriously? Can they do that? Yes, they can.We stayed home for Christmas this year, and enjoyed some much-needed quiet and roast beef at my sister's. Then on New Year's Day we took off for five nights in Camp Verde, Arizona, at a cabin with Gary's dad and brother's family—complete with crackling fire, a view of mountains, and horses. We had come to Phoenix because Dad Glahn was being honored at a symposium in his name at the American Meteorological Society national meeting for his outstanding contributions to the field of applied meteorology. People from the US (including the head of the National Weather Service), Canada, Australia, Korea, and East Germany—from land to ships to airlines—told of how he mentored them, helping people across the world set up weather programs with implications for disaster preparedness. Someone said he has sponsored some 257 students during his tenure.While in Arizona for that event at the Phoenix Convention Center, we added on some time at Sedona, Montezuma Castle, Montezuma Well, Tuzigoot National Monument, and Walnut Canyon National Monument. The night before we arrived, Arizona got a boatload of snow, and though the skies were cloudless while we played, the white stuff added to the beauty as we played. The grand finale was a spectacular sunset over the Grand Canyon. When I was 27 and Gary was 28, we backpacked the Grand Canyon with his parents, my dad, and some friends from the South Kaibab trailhead, down to Phantom Ranch, and back up to Bright Angel Lodge. I believe I've seen the Grand Canyon five or six times from a variety of perspectives, and it's always amazing. But this sunset sure beat all.