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Show PHYR/DEC-JAN 2008 THE CANYON COUNTRY Wf TAKE IT ox LEAVE Eo ar. PO BOX 327. MOAB, UTAH 84532 JIM STILES, PUBLISHER 435.260.1273 Www, : hh com cezephyr@frontiernet.net Bie moabzephyr@yahoo.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Ken Sleight Martin Murie Ned Mudd Phillip Crumley THE ARTIST John Depuy HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS Herb Ringer (1913-1998) ZEPHYR PILOT & AERIAL RECONAISSANCE Paul Swanstrom ZEPHYR TRANSPORTATION FLEET SPECIALISTS Gene Schafer TM. Sd having lunch with a Moab June 18, 1966...Tucumcari,-New Mexico July 24, 1968...South Rim, Grand Canyon August 1, 1971....Comb Ridge, Utah June 29, 1972...near Cantwell, Alaska friend of mine, a man even grumpier and more cynical than I am perceived to be, if that’s possible. Chewing absently on his cheeseburger he said, “So what's the theme of your next issue?” “Perfect moments,” I said. He reflexively squeezed his burger, gripped it until ketchup oozed around the edges and dripped on his jeans. “Damnit,” he said. “Look what you made me do!” “It's your burger,” I argued. “If you want to choke your burger til it bleeds, that’s your problem, pal, not mine.” He mopped himself up, the best he could and fired back, “What the hell are you talking about? ‘Perfect moments.’ In the Zephyr...are you insane?” He started at me intently. “Who are you?” Tom Wesson WEBMASTER Gary Henderson spankme2times@excite.com SUBSCRIPTIONS & TRANSCRIPTIONS Linda Vaughan . CIRCULATION JA Bryan Lance Lawrence Jose Churampi THE ZEPHYR, copyright 2007 ‘The Zephyr i is published six times a year at Moab, Utah. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of its vendors, advertisers, or even at times, of its publisher. All photographs and cartoons are by the publisher, unless otherwise noted. The religion and the environmentalism of the highly industrialized countries are at bottom a sham, because they make tt their-business to fight against something which they do not really wish to destroy. We all live by robbing nature, but our standard of living demands that the robbery — shall continue. Wendell Berry Word & Flesh 1989 He mopped himself up, the best he could and fired back, “What the hell are you talking about? ‘Perfect moments.’ In the Zephyr...are you insane?” He started at me intently. “Who are you?” I shrugged. “It’s still me...your lovable little buddy and fellow curmudgeon.” He shoved. a mouth full of fries into that gaping hole that passes for a mouth and tried again. “Okay... maybe I don’t understand the answer. ‘Perfect moments.’ Are you going for laughs here? Is it supposed to be ironic? You're going for irony, right?” “Nope,” I explained. “I’m going for the real thing. I want my readers to share their most perfect moments with the Zephyr and I’m | going to print them in the December/January issue.’ He folded his hands and placed them on the formica. “I’ve lost my appetite,” he said. “Not an easy thing for you to do,” I answered, staring at his waistline. “Who knows...maybe this issue will be good for you too.” And so I attempted to explain to my heartless friend that the “Perfect Moments” edition of The Zephyr had been conceived and proposed and was now in the process of being executed with an effusive, almost unheard of sincerity. I really wanted to know what readers thought of, when they considered the perfect moments of their lives. Or if they even had any to remember. What I hoped my little survey would prove (and it did) was that when all of us truly consider the times in our lives that we treasure the most, those moments rarely have anything to do with the accumulation of physical wealth or the flaunting display of our ‘stuff. To repeat myself —it’ sSmy mantra really....We live in a greedy, materialistic culture in which our success, even our happiness, is supposed to be measured by the size and number of our homes, by the high tech toys we show off for our friends, by the gross income we can boast of. And yet, when Time really matters, it’s not the new Mercedes SUV that brings tears to the eye—it’s almost always the warmth of a friendship or the beauty of a sunset or the kindness of a stranger 2 MY TOP 10 PERFECT MOMENTS I’ve given this some careful thought, and here is my Top 10 list of perfect moments, offered in chronological order. I’m grateful to have ten of them; in fact, to my surprise, I had many more than I realized. That discovery was, in fact, a perfect moment all its own. LES HAS THE ZEPHYR GONE SCHMALTZY? I was that we remember. In the end, what else is there? My grouchy friend looked up from his meal and smiled. “That reminds me of a ball game I saw with my dad...it was the first time we’d spoken in years...” October 20, 1975....North Fire Point, Grand Canron. y April, 11, 1976....Arches National Park, Utah November 12, 1988....Moab, Utah December 27, 1997...Castledene Farm, Western Australia April 16, 2003....Perth, Australia January 23, 2007...Halsham Farm, Western Austra- ia As to what happened on those days and at those places, I think I'll just keep those memories to myself for a while longer. THE PERFECT SMALL BUSINESS I was in the market for a new straw hat. After 23 years, my old straw fedora had seen its better day, and was only being held together with about three pounds of Shoe Goo. So I ventured out into cyberspace to see what kind of haberdashery might be found there. I stumbled upon a web site that took me by surprise. I’m not in the habit of promoting businesses on this page, though for the second time in two issues, I’m doing just that. They're called VillageHatShop.com and their president is a guy named Fred Belinsky. I found a hat to my liking, bought it, and inadvertently signed up for their email updates. To my surprise, the first email I received wasn’t trying to sell me anything at all. No specials. No Summer Closeouts. Instead Fred had this to share with his customers: Regular readers of our emails know that periodically I use this forum to convey a sense of the tenor — the values and business culture - of this e-retailer that you trade with. (Those only looking for coupons or deals can skip today’’s newsletter.) Back in the 1970s, I taught a college course (We) believe small ecommerce merchants can compete as long as the web remains democratic and we have this means to communicate directl with our customers, with both words and deeds, the simple but powerful truth that we are in fact good people looking to trade with good people Fred Belinsky that used the text SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL: Economics as if People Mattered by E.F Schumacher. In a nutshell, Schumacher argues that size matters greatly if the objective is an economy that meets our needs for more than simply money or goods. A nobler economics includes a moral purpose, education, a discussion of spirit and conscience, the |
