HikeArizona.COM

You know them, and maybe you are one of them. Those people, who come from another state, and move to Arizona, or Florida, or some other state, and they often make annoying statements about things that are or were better in their home state, or talk about how they did things in their home state, or just talk or post about stuff "back home". They're, "those people", or the back home crowd. You see them here, in the forum, talking about NY weather, or how it is always colder in Wisconsin, or the way things were better in Massachusetts, or some other state, perhaps California, or Montana. Point is, you know them, and maybe you are one.

It probably just comes from moving to some place after having grown up in a particular spot, and becoming who you are in that location. You can take the boy out of xxxxxxxxxxx, but you can't take the xxxxxxxxx out of the boy, so to speak. I try not to speak about where I come from, and stay out of many conversations on my state of origin. I won't even mention it here. I sometimes mention Florida, but not too often. This usually comes from me first encountering "those people" in Florida, after I moved there, and still really liked the place, and found those people who talked about NY, Michigan, or their home state so fondly, to be quite irritating. If it was so great, why did you leave? Go back there! So, I never really talk fondly of my home state. Mostly, I have few fond memories I want to relate to other people, but really, I liked where I moved to and wanted to be there, not, "back home".

However, I have finally become one of, "those people", but for Arizona. I realize I now speak fondly of it, and more or less view Flagstaff, as my default home town. Northern Arizona, at the very least. I talk about it, and probably annoy others doing so, with some regularity. I think fondly of it, and I compare, perhaps unfairly, New Mexico to AZ. I want NM to be AZ, but it never will be. I find it a little funny, but I like it this way. I would much rather AZ be my home state, and even if I was almost 27 when I moved to Flagstaff, I rather like the idea of it being my home town. Sure, I love traveling to other western states and areas, like the Sierra in California, the Rockies in Colorado, the Tetons in Wyoming, the Snake River Plain in Idaho, and the central park lands in Utah, but I always loved coming home to Arizona.

I wonder, do other lost sons of Arizona develop this, or do those who recently moved to Grand Junction, the Bay Area, or other locations drop off the map and see those places as their new home, doing as I did in the past and never speaking of, that place they came from which shall remain unspoken.

big_load wrote:@Alston Neal There's a limit on pining for how it was the old days. You can get away with exceeding if people think you're old enough.

Yeah you're right. Many years ago I was getting really bummed out about losing the desert in North Scottsdale. Then I realized that it wasn't healthy for me and then it came to me that if I lived in some big city like NY or LA then I would want to live here.
Btw, Father Kino seemed like a nice young man, although he said Spain was much better.....

I was born in Germany. I grew up on a lot of Air Force bases, stateside I lived briefly in Washington State, Ok, Texas, Ga, Tenn. My folks were from Tenn and there we stayed when my dad retired. I finished girlhood wearing overalls and running barefoot in a lot of cushy green grass after my horses, goats, cows etc. I was used to making home where ever we were. We used to take a lot of summer western driving trips when I was out of school. I remember going thru Tucson in June and thinking how ugly the area was. I was 16 and thought I knew it all.

From Tenn I was fortunate to be based in Hotlanta and travel a lot. Chicago, New York, even Jersey ( Mah Wah) a year long stint in Walnut Creek, Ca. Took BART working days into the city, weekends in the wine country. Spent lots of time in New Orleans, due to our corporate office being there. Went to a few Mardi Gras I do not remember. Lived in Florida a year, worked and worked at being a beach bum.

Then San Diego--how I loved California for the all too short 10 years there. Now Arizona and it is great too, these western states I so looked down on as a kid. I love the big skies and the open land to explore. Don't have that back east. But there you have rivers and lushness only hinted at here. I love all this diversity in our great country. There is something for everyone.

Alston Neal wrote: Btw, Father Kino seemed like a nice youg man, although he said Spain was much better.....

Did you help him hide the gold?

Coincidentally, I had an old guy moment today. A magazine article referred to a "long lost" mural that was uncovered by a building demolition. Long lost? That mural was painted when I was in high school, and not covered up until ten years later. It hasn't been around long enough to be old. To really cap it off, they described finding the mural as "a surprise". Really? There are tens of thousands of people who could have told them it was there. Bah!

@big_load
You failed to mention DaVinci painted it...

Alston Neal wrote:@big_load
You failed to mention DaVinci painted it...

It's four bison in a head-to-tail row, so probably Fremont Culture or thereabouts. School was a lot easier back then because we didn't have so much to learn.

I spent my entire life growing up in Minnesota and Wisconsin and as long as I could get out snowmobiling and ice fishing in the winter, that was all I needed. Often the snow and cold could become unbearable, but with the right clothing, I was always able to get out and make a winter out of it.

In the last decade, however, I noticed that the winters were warmer than I had known them to be, there wasn't the amount of snow for snowmobiling and the ice was too thin for my pickup to take me to my favorite fishing grounds. Each year it got worse and I was dreading the oncoming winters, I was suffering from "Cabin Fever".

When my wife finally retired, I said that it's now time to spend our winters someplace where we can get out and enjoy ourselves for these (now) useless months. We spent one winter in Arizona and I was hooked. When we went back to Minnesota, I had a yard sale of all my ice fishing equipment and I haven't looked back.

I'm still a snowbird because I spend my summers in Minnesota and winters in Arizona. Eventually I'm going to sell our home in Minnesota, but I'll still maintain some residence up there because of the daughter, son-in-law and two grand children. Many's the time that I wish that I had done this sooner.

@big_load
Alston qualifies then. He was born when they were still constructing all the new Condos in the Sierra Anchas....

30 years in Texas... 10 years in California... 10 years in Arizona... 8 years in New Mexico... 5 years on the road. All was great. I move when it is time to move on and it has always been good. Pure Luck? I could not begin to recall the specific number of places (especially the years living on the road!) but it would include way too many homesites for the average person to enjoy. The moving is probably over and done, but hopefully seasonal travel will still provide lots of spice to the hiking schedule.

15 years in Ohio - nothing to miss about that place!
25 years in Phoenix area, except for short stints in NW Indiana and So. Cal. I loved Phoenix.
And now going on six months in Grand Canyon ... and I plan to stay here as long as the Canyon will have me.
Good job, nice community, endless hiking, friends, and love ... I have found my home.

Outdoor Lover wrote:@big_load
Alston qualifies then. He was born when they were still constructing all the new Condos in the Sierra Anchas....

So he started out in real estate?

I first came to Arizona in 48 with my father, mother and older brother. Dad took us out to Apache Junction to see the corner zoo and drive Apache Trail out to Roosevelt Lake. Dad wanted to sell his construction business in Minnesota, move to Apache Junction, purchase 600 acres for five bucks an acre, build a golf course and start selling lots. Mother said NO WAY and our winter vacation ended up back in Minnesota that January so we could be back in school.

Just think, If dad had had his way my brother and I would have been among some of those crazy Dutchman Hunter guys that everyone reads and speculates about. Famous, infamous and probably :stretch: . Hey, I actually almost acomplished that last part when I finally did arrive in Arizona.... viewtopic.php?f=64&t=3725&p=33429&hilit=hmo#p33429

big_load wrote:

Outdoor Lover wrote:@big_load
Alston qualifies then. He was born when they were still constructing all the new Condos in the Sierra Anchas....

So he started out in real estate?

I was really proud of how I laid out Snaketown. Those Hohokam were easy to work with, but those Salado folks and their..."We gotta build in remote canyons", drove me crazy.

Alston Neal wrote:

big_load wrote:

Outdoor Lover wrote:@big_load
Alston qualifies then. He was born when they were still constructing all the new Condos in the Sierra Anchas....

So he started out in real estate?

I was really proud of how I laid out Snaketown. Those Hohokam were easy to work with, but those Salado folks and their..."We gotta build in remote canyons", drove me crazy.

Alston, what's with the Winged Rat photo?

azbackpackr wrote: Alston, what's with the Winged Rat photo?

@azbackpackr
Bait...

@azbackpackr
He reflects my inner being...the questioning of the mysteries of the universe....
The depth of one's religious being...
The fine art of reflection into the soul of conversation...
Why the simple beauty of nature is so alluring...
Most importantly....


Really WT were you thinking?

So, your inner being loves to eat garbage, rotten fish and prop-killed harbor seals? Likes to flock around and bother people who are picnicking on the beach, and poo on their heads?

I knew you were an eccentric, Alston, but this is pushing it...

Somebody is getting a lump of coal in their stocking.

I think I like the new avatar. In fact, I think Buddha WAS an actual avatar, if you believe in such things.

Thanks, the gull was a segway avatar, till I remembered where I put this guy, Haruna shrine, Japan.
At the rate folks are bringing me Christmas goodies, I'll look just like him... ;)