Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Leaving Flagstaff

I leave Flagstaff for the East Coast next week.

Inevitably as you prepare to leave a place you reflect on your time there.  These two years in Flagstaff have been so incredibly vivid and full of life.  I left the Bay Area after four and a half years and was, admittedly, a bit dazed by the smog, the traffic, the fast pace, and a very stressful job.  I came to Flagstaff with my Bay Area friends thinking I was crazy to want to live somewhere to remote.  I came to Flagstaff wanting despeartely to be awakened in some way.  

For those of you who have never been here, Flagstaff is in northern Arizona, about 2.5 hours north of Phoenix.  We are at 7,000 feet elevation at the base of the gorgeous San Francisco peaks (see below).  This area boasts the largest group of volcanic peaks outside Hawaii.  Flagstaff has about 50,000 residents (not including NAU) and is a strange mix of NAU students, hippies, lesbians, artists, Native Americans, "gun and country" types... the gamut. To combat some Arizona stereotpyes... No, this is not the desert.  No, this is not like Phoenix or Tucson.  Yes, this is a quite liberal area in a sea of red. Yes, we do live in a massively large Ponderosa Pine forest.  YES, it snows here... a lot. 

Living here has made me appreciate the outdoors much more.   In San José, you need to seek out wilderness.  In Flagstaff, it surrounds you.  Skiing was 15 minutes away, hiking everywhere, the Grand Canyon just over an hour away...

But more than re-awakening my love for nature, what has amazed me about my time in Flagstaff has been the people.  Outside my work at NAU, I served as assistant conductor of the Master Chorale of Flagstaff and also as choir director at Flagstaff Federated Community Church.  What I soon found was that there is just enough of that small town atmosphere here to be charming (rather than my hometown of 6,000 folks where everyone thinks they know your business).  Starting last spring, I couldn't go anywhere in town without running into someone I knew.  And I found that I loved that.  I loved that people knew me and that we could exchange pleasantries in the produce department at Safeway.  I loved not being a number in the Bay Area rat race.  I loved being a part of this community.  I guess what I'm realizing is that this community has become a part of me...

I will miss Flagstaff immensely and will try to take these lessons to heart as I move to D.C. 

 The San Francisco peaks in winter
photo credit: Brad McCann

The view from my first room in Flag.  Ponderosa Pines everywhere!

Working with the NAU Men's Chorale... a source of great joy and inspiration

Conducting the Harter Memorial Handbell Choir at NAU.  So much fun. 

1 comment:

  1. Good luck Josh. I hope the new choir is awesome and you love your new gig. Congratulations on the new school and completing your master's degree.

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