My name is Ethan Perelstein. I was born and raised in Flagstaff where I lived until I moved across the planet to Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, 18 months ago. Aside from the language barrier and other culture shocks that come from moving to Eastern Europe, Blagoevgrad is a very comfortable fit for me. It has a population of 75,000, the trees turn yellow and red...
Read MoreTipping the balance; This is a good day
This week’s guest columnist is Karla Theilen “All I need to kick this virus once and for all is lots of hot tea, some lemonade and a clean pair of underwear,” my patient announced as I fastened the blood pressure cuff around her arm. She paused and stared straight ahead, then her head flew back to release a laugh that sounded like the descending trill of a...
Read MoreIn between storms; Finding reprieve after chaos
This week’s guest columnist is Molly Wood. It is a rainy Tuesday morning in Flagstaff. I sit on the dry side of a coffee shop’s large pane window and watch drops of water traverse the glass, eventually making their way to the ground and from there to the drains along the streets. I watch water collect in puddles and wonder if I am too old to jump in...
Read MoreTo the mountain, again and again; Many phases, and many returns
This week’s guest columnist is Naima Schuller. I grew up in Show Low in the 1980s when the population hovered somewhere around 5,500. I felt like I lived in the backwaters of some social wilderness area, designated just for Mormons, Jack Mormons, rednecks and assorted hermits and hippies. Going to Stake Center dances and snipe hunting definitely...
Read MoreRipples in the flow of time; On trying to capture death
A guest post by Peter Friederici The deer out along the tracks has almost entirely vanished. About three months ago it was fresh—if that’s the term for something that smelled like death. Recent death, the kind of odor to provoke a brief shocked worry that I might stumble on one of the transients who come out here to drink or sleep it off. But no, there lay...
Read More