When I moved here in 2008, Flagstaff’s population was around 60,000 people. As of the 2024 census, the permanent resident population of flagstaff was 76,831. NAU students make up an additional 25,000 residents over nine months of each year. As they say about frogs, I’ve been sitting in lukewarm water not even noticing it’s getting hot in here. Of course, things have changed and the traffic is slightly worse and hamburgers cost $20 now.
I remember when I left my job at Grand Valley State in Grand Rapids, Michigan, my colleagues who had gone to ASU and visited Flagstaff often warned me about the horrible traffic here. I realize now that they meant Milton or Fort Valley Road. Milton’s trouble has spread eastwise. If you would like to swear a lot, take Fourth St. between 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wait through six red lights on Huntington/Industrial before you finally make it to 66 where you wait through another six turns. We have a few more breweries and a couple fancy new restaurants although the food scene still skews pizza and burgers. There are more apartment buildings. More buildings on campus. The motels are ritzing it up. But Fourth St. is still Fourth St. and Fratelli remains the best pizza in town.
My former student went to see the Subhumans in Phoenix late last fall. I’ve loved this punk rock band since I was twelve-years-old. Their dark point of view satisfied me. Their song “The Cradl… Read moreImpossible individualism: Us fish must swim together
I didn’t mean to fall in love with Brine Shrimp. In 2017, for my birthday, my friend Angie gave me an ecosphere—an egg-shaped glass enclosure in which three brine shrimp swam among oxygenating… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Brine shrimp
I have a confession to make. I adopted two new kittens. After Zane the cat got lost last April, I couldn’t stop missing him. Zane, half Maine Coon, half koala bear, was my person. He slept bet… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Impossible Hospitals
On June 30th, I took a trip with my friend Beya and our youngest boys to Clear Creek Reservoir to paddleboard. The wind was strong. The water was murky. The sun was hot. We managed to make it … Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Impossible College
I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. The nouns in that sentence define nearly all of my writing. My hometown, paradoxically named, shaped my aesthetic. I write from a first-person point of view… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: One and done
Newly elected governor Katie Hobbs, in her inauguration speech, vowed to repeal the universal vouchers, officially known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) â€� double-speak for if you’re… Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: Boot Straps
It was precisely 97 minutes ago that we wrapped up Spring Semester 2022. By the time you’re reading this, it will be September 1 and Fall Semester 2022 will be well underway. They say there’s … Read moreNicole's Impossibly Possible Ideas: A wormhole summer
