Let’s see: ASPT, Rotator Cuff, Zac engaged, Jill changing companies, & more…

ASPT.  That stands for Arizona State Parks and Trails.  Starting late last August I began volunteering two days a week at their offices as “Volunteer Assistant Site Steward Coordinator”, helping out my friend, Dr. Will Russell, Archaeologist, who is the actual Site Steward Coordinator for the state.   Biggest problem, funding and priorities.  The Site Steward program is so far down the list of priorities at State Parks that it takes MONTHS to get approval for a simple newsletter out to the 800+ site stewards.  Very discouraging.

Rotator Cuff: Tore mine on March 1st while out hiking on Agua Fria National Monument – which I was still trying to do on a weekly basis.  Now up to over 880 prehistoric structures documented, close to 20K photographs and over 1,500 km of hiking.  The rotator cuff debacle occurred as six of us were heading into the last 1/2 km of a 3.5 km hike – from Horseshoe Ranch, up Indian Creek to Long Gulch Creek, up the creek for 1/2 a km, then up to the south onto the top of Long Gulch Mesa, visit a couple of sites there and then back west to the Jeeps.  The “back west to the Jeeps” involved climbing down off the mesa – which the young BLM ranger with us was able to do by hop/skipping/jump down from basalt boulder to basalt boulder in front of us.  As he was looking up at the rest of us, I jokingly told him he’d have to wait for about 30 minutes for the rest of us old folks to work our way down to where he was.  Then I took two steps, lost my balance and fell backwards onto my right elbow and shoulder.  I heard a distinct “POP” and felt lots of pain in my elbow and shoulder – mainly the latter.  As the ranger and others hurried to help me, I rolled over onto my back and discovered my right arm was worthless.  Total inability to raise it up at all.  It just laid there.  They bandaged up my bleeding elbow, we took an easy trail back to the Jeeps, I struggled in with some help from others, and then drove myself to emergency care.  No broken bones, but could be torn tendons – which an MRI a few days later confirmed.  Now I’m scheduled for surgery on March 23rd.  Followed by 6 weeks of slings and 3 – 5 months of physical therapy.  😦

My son, Zac, is getting married in August.  On Macinack Island in Michigan.  To the wonderful Kasey Campbell.  So excited.

Jill, my lovely wife who is a mortgage originator, is now back working with Veritas Funding out of Utah.  Nice people, great products and wonderful support for Jill.  She has her own office only a mile or so from our house (along with an office in our house).  With her thirty years or more of experience in real estate and mortgages, she is probably the most knowledgeable and experienced mortgage originator in the area, if not the state.  I’m so proud of her, her accomplishments and her reputation.  She even teaches mortgage licensing and law all across the nation.

Well, time to get back to work.  I have a meeting today with Parks folks to go over 2018 Site Steward award nominations and another meeting at 12:00 noon with the Cultural Resources Committee for the Friends of Agua Fria National Monument.  I’ve been working with the latter group for over 9 or 10 years now and find it very rewarding.