They come to Flagstaff in moving vans or sedans stuffed with possessions and expectations. Their satchels brim with hope and anticipation, be it an opportunity to hit it big or maybe just cobble together a fresh start with a clean slate. They are looking for adventure, perhaps, or just a foothold of stability.
People move to town for any number of reasons, and inherent in such life changes is a measure of uncertainty compounded now by the specter of COVID-19 and all the economic and social upheaval that has engendered.
Some moves are pandemic-related, attempts to find work or just a safer place to stay, or to hunker down closer to loved ones. Other moves, though, have little to do with our current fraught times; they simply reflect Americaâs storied migratory history, alighting for new horizons to chase oneâs dream of success.
On camera, she sometimes wears a cardigan sweater, albeit sans zipper. She uses that soothing, evenly modulated voice that can entrance even the most rambunctious little ones. She looks straight into the camera and talks directly to the audience, wide-eyed, with genuine childlike wonder.
Mari Soliday is, it seems, Mr. Rogers incarnate.
âNo,â said Soliday, blushing beneath her COVID-19 mask, âbecause I donât change my shoes (on camera).â
Fair enough.
But since March, when the pandemic essentially shut down all programs at the Museum of Northern Arizona, Soliday has hosted the twice-monthly âFamily Fridayâ Facebook Live virtual program, during which she engages elementary-aged children in the science and culture of the Colorado Plateau with fun activities, informative guests and challenging science experiments viewers can try at home.
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